Monday, February 17, 2025
Sixth Prisoner Exchange in Gaza Ceasefire Completed
Concerted Efforts of Mediators and Palestinian Resistance Ensures Israeli Compliance
Prisoner release,
February 15, 2025
• Concerted Efforts of Mediators and Palestinian Resistance Ensures Israeli Compliance
• We Say to the Entire World:
No Migration
Except to Al-Quds (Jerusalem)
Sixth Prisoner Exchange in Gaza Ceasefire Completed
Concerted Efforts of Mediators and Palestinian Resistance Ensures Israeli Compliance
On Saturday, February 15, mediators from Qatar and Egypt, backed by the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas, ensured that the sixth prisoner exchange planned for that day was completed as agreed. In the face of U.S. and Israeli threats to derail the Ceasefire Agreement, Hamas agreed on February 13 to move ahead with the exchange after it said Egypt and Qatar had pledged to "remove all hurdles" to ensure Israel would allow more tents, medical supplies and other essentials into Gaza, the Associated Press reported.
Three captives taken by the Resistance on October 7, 2023 were exchanged for 369 Palestinian prisoners, out of the thousands held by Israel. The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network reported on the release of the three Israelis in Khan Yunis:
"The Palestinian resistance -- with a full complement of fighters from the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades and Saraya al-Quds -- turned three Zionist prisoners over to the Red Cross. They presented one with an hourglass with a message reading 'Time is running out,' and another, Sagi Dekel-Chen, with a gold earring as a gift on the birth of his daughter, born four months into his captivity."
News of the Israeli captives release was cheered at a public square in Tel Aviv where hundreds had gathered, with people carrying signs that included "Complete the Ceasefire."
The release by Israel of the Palestinian prisoners followed in Ramallah. Of the 369 freed, most were held without charges or conviction. Three hundred and thirty-three were imprisoned by the occupation during this latest war on Gaza, along with 36 who had been sentenced to life imprisonment for acts of resistance against the occupation. Twenty-four of those will be exiled abroad, while 12 will return to the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Released
Palestinian prisoners greeted in Ramallah, February 15, 2025
Crowd greets Palestinian
prisoners returning to Khan Yunis, February 15, 2025
The condition of Palestinian prisoners released by the Israeli occupiers on February 15 confirms the torture, abuse and inhumane conditions to which they are subjected. Resistance News Network informs: "At least four released prisoners in difficult health condition in Ramallah were transferred to the hospital according to the Palestinian Red Crescent." Still others had suffered grievous injuries due to torture in the occupation's prisons, including one youth whose leg had to be amputated while in detention.
As well, the
occupation's prisons services forced all those
being
released to wear sweatshirts with a star of David and the slogan "We do
not forget and nor do we forgive." They were also forced to wear
bracelets inscribed with a Torah verse reading, "The eternal people do
not forget. I will
pursue my enemies and catch up with them." Upon their release, the
Palestinians threw the sweatshirts and bracelets into a pile and set
them alight.
U.S. President Donald Trump continued his attempts at sabotage on Saturday after the three Israelis were released, first admitting that they "seem to be in good shape," then adding "Israel will now have to decide what they will do about the 12:00 O'CLOCK, TODAY, DEADLINE imposed on the release of ALL HOSTAGES. The United States will back the decision they make!" There was no such deadline, either imposed by Israel or in the Ceasefire Agreement and nothing came of Trump's threat.
The combined efforts of the mediators and the Palestinian Resistance thus saw to it that the hard-won ceasefire was not sabotaged by the U.S. and Israel, and is on track to proceed to phase two.
The Resistance fighters and the huge crowds at the handover clearly reiterated to the occupiers and Trump and other supporters of the Zionist occupation that the Palestinian people and their Resistance will hold Israel to account and are a red line that it cannot cross.
(Resistance News Network, Samidoun, Al Mayadeen, Associated Press)
We
Say to the Entire World:
No Migration Except to
Al-Quds (Jerusalem)
The presence of images of Al-Quds, Al-Aqsa, and the massive crowds during the release of enemy prisoners sends a renewed message to the occupation and its supporters that these are a red line.
The release of
the sixth batch of enemy prisoners reaffirms
that their freedom can only be secured through negotiations and
adherence to the requirements of the ceasefire agreement.
Our people, our nation, and free people around the world witness scenes of strength, pride, and dignity through the honourable prisoner exchange deal achieved by the Resistance, which embodies the unity of our people and their resistance.
We are the soldiers, O Al-Quds witness that we remain true to our pledge, steadfast on the battlefield, and committed to the path of liberation with no retreat or compromise.
We say to the entire world: No migration except to Al-Quds. This is our response to all calls for displacement and liquidation made by Trump and those who support his colonial and occupation agenda.
Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)
(Resistance News Network via Telegram)
Next Steps in Ceasefire
The ceasefire in Gaza that began on January 19 is still in its first of three phases. The first phase is scheduled to take six weeks, a period that ends in two weeks on March 2. According to the agreement, following the completion of the sixth prisoner exchange on February 15, of the 33 Israelis to be exchanged by the Palestinian Resistance in phase one, 14 are still to be released.
Meanwhile, phase two negotiations are to start shortly. Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP on February 15, "We expect the second phase of the ceasefire negotiations to begin early next week, and mediators are continuing discussions on this matter."
Phase two, that is also scheduled for a six-week period, is said to be focused on agreements for further prisoner exchanges that will see the return of the remaining prisoners held by the Palestinian Resistance. The releases will not occur until a "sustainable calm" takes effect and all Israeli Occupation Forces withdraw from Gaza, the Associated Press reports.
In phase three, the Palestinian Resistance is to return the remains of all those who died after being taken into captivity on October 7, 2023, in exchange for further prisoners held by Israel, and a three to five-year reconstruction plan for Gaza. In total some 1,900 prisoners are to be released by Israel, the BBC reported on February 2.
A serious impediment to the negotiations remains Israel's ongoing violations of the ceasefire. As just one example, on February 13, Al Mayadeen, citing the Gaza Heath Ministry, reported that 17 people were killed due to Israeli attacks. Rafah Mayor Ahmed Al-Soufi informed Al Mayadeen that 60 per cent of the city remains under Israeli control, with widespread destruction of homes. He added that invading Israeli units continue targeting designated "safe zones," endangering civilians and obstructing humanitarian and reconstruction efforts.
It is noteworthy that the Ceasefire Agreement that began in January was largely agreed to by the Palestinian Resistance in May 2024, meaning that the Israeli government bears direct responsibility for the deaths of its citizens who died while in captivity, either killed directly by Israeli bombs or unable to receive timely care for medical conditions in the subsequent eight months of its relentless campaign for all-out destruction of Gaza.
(AFP, AP, BBC, Al Mayadeen)
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