Today, Saturday, as the ceasefire agreement in Gaza enters its seventh day, all eyes are on the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, including 120 with life sentences and 80 with long sentences, as part of the “second batch” of the prisoner exchange process within the framework of the understandings of the ceasefire agreement on January 19.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the process of examining Palestinian prisoners in Ofer prison, near the town of Beitunia, west of the city of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank, began at five o'clock this morning, and the "release" process will take place between ten and eleven o'clock this morning.

In Israel, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that it had officially received the list of the names of the four female prisoners scheduled to be released today.

Israeli estimates varied regarding the timing of the Red Cross in Gaza receiving the Israeli female prisoners from the Palestinian resistance, with some sources suggesting "10:00 AM", while other sources said "the handover process may take place between 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM". The four prisoners are: Private Karina Arif, Private Danielle Gilboa, Private Naama Levy, and Private Liri Elbag.

Return of displaced persons to the north

On the ground, and according to the agreement, the Israeli occupation army is supposed to begin a “full withdrawal” today from the “Netzarim axis” in the middle of the Strip (i.e. from Rashid Coastal Street to the east of Salah al-Din Street), and that residents will be allowed to return to the north of the Strip, starting next week.

According to the draft agreement, the Israeli occupation is supposed to dismantle its military sites and installations in the "Netzarim Axis" area in an operation that "may last for hours," according to a Hamas source in previous statements to the media.

According to the agreement, according to the source, “the displaced are allowed to return to their areas of residence without carrying any kind of weapons.” The source also indicated that “due to the Israeli withdrawal from the area in the late hours of Saturday evening, the return of the displaced from the south to the north in large numbers will be on Sunday morning.”

Prominent names

Returning to the details related to the “exchange process,” it is worth noting that, according to the terms of the agreement, Israel is committed to releasing 50 Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli female soldier released, including 30 sentenced to life and 20 with long sentences.

The "first exchange", which took place on the first day of the agreement, saw the release of 3 Israeli female civilian prisoners in exchange for 90 Palestinian male and female prisoners, all from the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem.

The second exchange batch includes prominent names of prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment who are expected to be released, with some of them being deported abroad. Among those expected to be released today are: Zakaria al-Zubaidi, Ahmed al-Barghouti, Wael Qassem, and Mahmoud Atallah.