Israel begins prisoner transfer as part of Gaza cease-fire agreement

Israel’s Prison Service began Sunday to transfer 90 Palestinian detainees to Ofer Prison near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank to be released under a Gaza cease-fire deal, local media said.

Israeli Channel 12 said the 78 prisoners would be released to the West Bank while the other 12 to East Jerusalem.

“They will only be freed after the arrival of the Israeli captives to Israel,” it added.

The process of Hamas transferring three Israeli female captives to the Red Cross in Gaza has begun as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal, Channel 12 reports.

Hamas is set to release three female captives on Sunday under the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Israel. The process began to transfer the captives to the Red Cross as of 1333 GMT.

The Gaza cease-fire agreement took effect at 11.15 a.m. local time (9:15 a.m. GMT) on Sunday after a few hours delay because of Israeli accusations of Hamas of delaying the release of a list of captives set to be released. It was originally scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. local time (6:30 a.m. GMT).

Israel kills nearly 47,000 people in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023

Nearly 47,000 people have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 110,700 others injured in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli war has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.

In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.