News - Middle East: A number of Palestinian prisoners have been freed by the Israeli regime as the Gaza Strip-based resistance movement Hamas hands over the bodies of four Zionist captives to the International Committee of the Red Cross for transfer to the regime.

The prisoners reached the city of Ramallah in the West Bank on board Red Cross vehicles on Thursday after departure from the Ofer Prison in the occupied territory.

The exchange wrapped up the first phase of captive/prisoner exchange between the two sides, which has been underway as part of a ceasefire agreement that began being implemented last month in the hope of ending the regime’s 15-month-plus war of genocide against Gaza.

The released Palestinians are part of more than 600 prisoners, who are slated to be free by the regime for the first phase to wind down.

The prisoners were greeted with cheers from hundreds of supporters as they arrived in Ramallah, part of a larger celebration known as Toufan al-Ahrar (the Flood of the Free). 

Some of the released prisoners, wearing green jackets and keffiyehs, a type of Palestinian shawl, were lifted high in a moment of jubilation by the crowd, which had defied the regime’s threats and warnings against their coming together to welcome the freed prisoners.

Over all, the first phase saw Hamas handing over 33 captives, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. 

The Israeli regime had delayed the release of the Palestinian prisoners after Hamas handed over six Israeli captives from Gaza on Saturday.

Reacting to the procrastination, Hamas had called it a “serious violation” of the ceasefire deal.

Earlier on Wednesday, however, the movement announced that it had reached a new agreement with mediators in Egypt to bring the abductees home.

As the ceasefire deal nears its expiration next Saturday, there is uncertainty over whether an extension would be agreed on or if negotiations for a second phase of the deal would commence amid Tel Aviv’s dilatory and obstructionist efforts.

A potential next phase could involve release of the remaining 59 Zionist captives, who are held in Gaza.

It is also expected to feature a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and complete cessation of the regime’s aggression against the coastal territory.

Source: Press TV