Who are the Palestinian prisoners released by Israel?

The Israeli-occupied West Bank has erupted in celebrations after 90 Palestinian prisoners, most of them women, were released from Israeli jails as part of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

Families in the West Bank waited until early on Monday to receive their loved ones, most of whom had been detained without charge.The ceasefire, which ended Israel’s more than 15-month war on Gaza, also saw the release of three Israeli captives. More captives and prisoners are expected to be released in the coming weeks.

Who are some of the prominent Palestinians released?

The prisoners – 69 women and 21 children – were released about 1am on Monday (23:00 GMT on Sunday). They were taken to the West Bank city of Ramallah in Red Cross buses.

Only eight of the 90 prisoners were arrested before October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led Palestinian groups carried out attacks in southern Israel. The attacks killed more than 1,100 people, saw about 250 taken captive and triggered Israel’s war on Gaza.

Israel killed more than 47,000 Palestinians during its offensive on Gaza, drawing criticism for using disproportionate force against civilians and targeting hospitals and schools. It also killed more than 850 Palestinians and detained more than 7,000 in often violent raids across the West Bank.

Khalida Jarrar, leader of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and a feminist activist, was one of the most prominent prisoners released.

Jarrar has served prison terms in Israel since 2015 for being vocal about Palestinian prisoner rights and being affiliated with an “outlawed” party. The PFLP is considered a “terrorist” group by Israel.

In a statement in 2016, New York-based Human Rights Watch said Jarrar’s repeated arrests were part of Israel’s wider crackdown on nonviolent political opposition to its half-century of military occupation of Palestinian lands.