Mohammed Ragawi
18 January 2025•Update: 18 January 2025
GAZA CITY, Palestine
The Gaza-based Prisoners Media Office announced on Saturday that the lists of Palestinian prisoners scheduled for release as part of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal will be published before each exchange day following an agreed-on mechanism with the Israeli side.
The office clarified that the Israeli publication of the list for the first phase of the prisoner exchange is an action solely related to the Israeli authorities.
It added that the release mechanism is connected to the number of prisoners to be freed and the categories they fall into. This process will continue throughout the first phase of the agreement, which lasts 42 days.
The office said: "The lists will be published before each exchange day, according to the mechanism agreed upon in the ceasefire terms."
Earlier on Saturday, the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced that the ceasefire in Gaza would go into effect at 8.30 a.m. local time (0630GMT) on Sunday.
Israel's Justice Ministry published a list of 735 Palestinian prisoners to be released, in addition to a previous list containing 95 names.
However, Thaer Shreith, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Commission of Detainees' Affairs, pointed out that the initial list contained errors, such as the inclusion of names of previously released female prisoners and the omission of full details for 10 other prisoners.
Shreith urged the mediators from Qatar and Egypt to address these Israeli discrepancies emphasizing that the Israeli authorities should not be allowed to create confusion among the Palestinian public or the families of the prisoners.
Qatar announced a three-phase ceasefire agreement on Wednesday to end more than 15 months of deadly Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip with the ceasefire set to take effect on Sunday.
Nearly 46,900 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed and more than 110,600 injured in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to local health authorities.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November 2024 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.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi.
