Palestinians welcome freed prisoners as heroes, hail Hamas

Cairo/Ramallah: Thousands of Palestinians chanted praise of Hamas on Saturday as they welcomed prisoners freed under a ceasefire deal between the militant group and Israel that saw four Israeli hostages also return home.

In Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, many carried freed detainees on their shoulders through jubilant crowds that had waited hours for the buses carrying the prisoners to arrive.

Some waved Palestinian flags or the flags of Palestinian factions including Hamas, the group ruling Gaza, its ally the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad, and the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Inside Gaza European Hospital in the south of the enclave, where 16 freed detainees arrived for medical checks, thousands flocked in to welcome them, chanting Allahu Akbar "God is greatest" and "Greeting to Qassam Brigades (Hamas armed wing)."

Ikhlas Balousha, a Gazan woman, said her brother's release had brought happiness despite what she called the destruction, suffering, starvation and genocide experienced in the enclave.

"A feeling of dignity, joy, a feeling of victory despite the pain - a moment when you could have been a martyr, but praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, who allowed us to see him," she told Reuters.

The 200 Palestinians freed on Saturday include militants, some serving life sentences for involvement in attacks that killed dozens of people, according to a list published by Hamas.

Gazans await to go back home north

Some were released in the West Bank, while others returned to a Gaza now in ruins after 15 months of war. Those considered the most dangerous by Israel were taken to Egypt before being exiled to a third country.

"I had no doubt that I would be liberated one day. I was confident of that," said Mohammad Al-Arda, sentenced to life imprisonment plus 15 years over his membership in Islamic Jihad. He was recaptured in 2021 after digging his way out of jail through an improvised tunnel with three other inmates.

"We were in solitary confinement, under pressure and pain. I swear to God that when I saw the happiness of my people I became happy too, a happiness that words can't describe," he said, after returning to Ramallah.

Israel says those convicted of killing Israelis will not be permitted to return home. Around 70 will be deported to Egypt, Palestinian officials said, and from there to another country, possibly Turkey, Qatar or Algeria. Palestinians call prisoners "heroes" and "freedom fighters."

Naser Dawoud, a Hamas militant who spent 21 years in prison serving two life sentences for taking part in attacks on Israel, said he couldn't believe his name was among those to be freed.

"I am a human being and was sentenced for life, I didn't expect this to happen, there were some efforts before, but this time God blessed us," he told Reuters.

In the Gaza Strip, medics at the European Gaza hospital in Khan Younis started checking the health of the newly-released prisoners.

In a statement after the release of the Israeli hostages, Hamas said it had preserved the wellbeing of the hostages while "the enemy tried to kill them (hostages)."

Some freed prisoners from northern Gaza will have to stay in the south of the enclave for some time until Israel allows hundreds of thousands of north Gaza residents to return home, under the terms of the ceasefire deal.

Hamas said that it was expecting Israel to honour the agreement by immediately pulling forces from roads dividing the north and south of the enclave to allow around 650,000 people to return to their homes in the northern areas.

Witnesses said there was a stampede on a road leading to the north, blocked by Israeli troops who opened fire.

Medics said one person was killed there by suspected Israeli fire, one of only a handful of fatalities reported since the truce began. Two others were injured.

In a statement, the Israeli military said that in the central Gaza Strip, IDF troops identified several gatherings of dozens of suspects that posed a threat and troops fired warning shots to address the threat. It said that as yet it was unaware of any harm caused to the suspects as a result of the shooting.