DaysofPal – The Hamas movement announced on Sunday that it has received from Israel a list containing the names of 1,468 Palestinians arrested from the Gaza Strip during the genocide, part of the first phase of the prisoner-exchange arrangement tied to the current ceasefire agreement.
In its statement, the movement said, “The Palestinian resistance has received a list containing 1,468 names of detainees from Gaza.”
The transfer occurred “within the framework of the ceasefire agreement, the exchange deal, and the exchange of information between the Palestinian resistance and the Zionist occupation, following more than a month of communication through mediators,” according to Hamas.
The movement added that its teams had “reviewed and verified the list with the relevant bodies,” confirming the status of all names except for 11 individuals whose cases are still under investigation.
Hamas placed “full responsibility on Israel for the lives of all detainees in its custody and for any manipulation or discrepancies in the list it handed over.”
This marks the first time in two years of war that a Palestinian body has obtained an official Israeli list of detainees from Gaza.
Hamas attributed the delay in announcing the list to Israel’s stalling, obstruction, and tampering with several entries. The movement, along with its Prisoners’ Information Office, published the names, in addition to an annex containing 11 individuals Israel reportedly withdrew from the list and no longer acknowledges as being held in its prisons.
The movement stressed that Israel continues to “forcibly disappear additional detainees in its prisons and detention centers, refusing to disclose their identities or numbers to this moment.” Efforts, it said, are ongoing to uncover their fate.
Hamas urged mediators to pressure Israel to reveal the whereabouts of all prisoners, ensure their medical and humanitarian rights, and “halt the grave violations that contravene international laws and norms.”
Under the exchange deal that took effect on October 10, Palestinian factions released 20 Israeli captives alive and the remains of 27 others out of 28. Israel, however, asserted that one set of remains did not belong to any of its captives and that another set was not new but belonged to a detainee whose body had previously been recovered.
As part of the agreement, Israel released 1,968 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 people serving life sentences and 1,700 detainees from Gaza. Many were freed in severely deteriorated health, suffering from torture, starvation, and medical neglect.
Israel also returned 330 unidentified bodies to Gaza without clarifying when they were taken or the circumstances of their deaths. Some had decomposed; others, Palestinian sources say, bore injuries and damage consistent with torture.
According to Israeli media, Israel is conditioning the start of negotiations for the second phase of the deal on receiving the remains of three remaining captives. Hamas has repeatedly stated that retrieving these remains requires time due to Gaza’s extensive destruction.
Thousands of Palestinian bodies are still buried beneath the debris of homes that Israel destroyed during its two-year campaign, and recovery efforts are hampered by Israel’s ongoing prohibition on the entry of heavy machinery required to raise the debris.
More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, remain imprisoned in Israel, facing torture, starvation, and medical neglect, with many dying, as documented by Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups.
The total number of Palestinians detained from Gaza since October 2023 is still unknown, as Israel refuses to disclose the figure, rights organizations confirm.
The ceasefire agreement halted a devastating Israeli assault on Gaza that began on October 8, 2023, killing more than 69,000 Palestinians and injuring over 170,000, most of them women and children. UN estimates place reconstruction costs at roughly $70 billion.
Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=69461
