Israel will release 550 detainees of its choice within two months
including sick detainees, children and elderly.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ society released a list naming detainees it
says they will be freed and said that the Israeli prison service had informed the prisoners who will be released that they will be let go soon.
An Israeli high-ranking official told Israel’s daily, Haaretz, that the
Israeli government selected which prisoners would be freed in coordination
with Egypt. And no prisoner to be freed is convicted of killing Israelis.
He stated that the prisoners will be freed on Sunday afternoon, after Israel
responds to all appeals that may exist, adding that the prisoners will be sent to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli source affirmed that the list will not include political
prisoners of Hamas and Islamic Jihad Movement. Most of the prisoners are
members of Fatah movement, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He added that
children and women would be among those freed.
Member of the Political Bureau of Hamas Saleh Al Aroury, said that
the detainees will be released after Gaza Strip detainees are sent to the Negev Detention Camp, and West Bank detainees are send to the Ofer Detention.
He added that no one of the prisoners will be exiled out of Palestine,
unlike the freed prisoners of the first phase of the swap deal.
It is worth mentioning that on October 18, Israel released 477 detainees,
named by the resistance, while the captured Israel soldier, Gilad Shalit, was handed by the resistance to Egypt, before he was escorted by Israeli officials and back his home.
With completing this phase, the total agreed number of detainees to be
released will be 1,027. Israel is refusing to release Fatah strongman, Marwan Barghouthi, and PFLP Secretary-General, Ahmad Saadat, in addition to dozens of political leaders and members of the resistance.
