TEHRAN – The Palestinian resistance movement said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his occupation army failed for two years to free its captives through military means and ultimately had to accept the resistance’s terms, acknowledging that the only path to their captives’ return was through a prisoner exchange and an end to the war of extermination.

Hamas reaffirmed its commitment to the agreement, saying it had fulfilled its obligations by releasing the enemy’s captives, and called on mediators to pressure the Israeli regime to uphold its side of the deal.

The movement emphasized that, despite the occupation regime’s attempts to kill its own captives during bombardments, the resistance had taken every measure to keep them alive.

Hamas also declared the release of its “heroic prisoners”, including those serving life sentences, was a result of “the bravery and steadfastness” of Palestinians in Gaza. 

“The liberation of our heroic prisoners, especially those serving long or life sentences, is the result of our people’s steadfastness and a pledge kept by the resistance,” Hamas said a statement. 

It added, “The cause of the prisoners will remain a top national priority until the last Palestinian captive is freed and the occupation is ended.”

Hamas also condemned the continued mistreatment, torture, and killings of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

The Prisoners’ Media Office announced that dozens of buses carrying freed Palestinians from Gaza departed for the Gaza Strip, while other buses arrived in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

According to the director of the office, a number of long-term prisoners, some jailed for decades, are among those released. However, 154 freed Palestinians will be forcibly deported by the regime’s authorities.

He added that the occupation regime had attempted to backtrack on the terms of every agreement, but Palestinian resistance groups insisted on the release of specific names included in the deal. “We made improvements to the prisoner lists, especially for those from the Gaza Strip.” 

In Khan Younis, southern Gaza, large crowds gathered to welcome the released Palestinians, waving flags of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Similar scenes unfolded in Ramallah, where crowds assembled at the city’s Cultural Palace to receive those freed.
At the same time, Israeli occupation forces sought to prevent public celebrations in al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the West Bank.

Lawyer Siraj Abu Arefa, from the Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Jerusalem, said the regime’s intelligence body summoned the families of Palestinians due for release under the exchange deal, forcing them to sign restrictive conditions.

These conditions included bans on gatherings, public celebrations, or displays of joy. Each freed Palestinian, he said, would be escorted home by the regime’s intelligence vehicles to ensure compliance.

During the wait for Palestinians held in the notorious Ofer Prison west of Ramallah, a young man was shot and wounded by live Israeli fire.

The WAFA news agency reported that occupation troops stormed the home of Ayman al-Kurd, released under the Gaza ceasefire deal, and assaulted his brother, causing fractures and bruises to his nose and foot. Soldiers also damaged property and warned families of freed prisoners against holding celebrations.

Legal scholars and experts have said that Palestinian prisoners should be regarded as hostages because their imprisonment serves political and coercive purposes rather than justice. 

Thousands have been kidnapped by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza and the West Bank without charge or trial under the regime’s system of “administrative detention,” in clear violation of international law. 

Reports from human rights organizations describe systematic torture, humiliation, and deprivation inside Israeli regime prisons, where Palestinians endure conditions meant to break their will rather than administer justice.

During ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations, the regime has repeatedly used these Palestinian hostages as bargaining chips, threatening to delay or restrict their release to extract political concessions from Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups. 

This instrumentalization of human beings as tools of pressure, combined with the widespread, arbitrary, and abusive nature of their detention, fits the definition of hostage-taking under international law, highlighting the deep moral and legal crisis surrounding the regime’s treatment of Palestinians held behind bars.