List of 39 Palestinians to be released by Israel in exchange for hostage release announced

The Palestinian Prisoners' Society announced on Friday the list of the names of 39 prisoners who will be released by Israel today in exchange for the release of 13 Israeli hostages held by Hamas, which is scheduled for 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT). 

A total of 24 women and 15 teenage boys convicted of terrorism have been transferred to Ofer prison from Dambon and Megiddo prisons in preparation for their release as soon as the hostages held by the Palestinian Islamist group are handed over to the Israeli army under Red Cross mediation. 

Although convicted of terrorism, none of them have blood crimes on their records. 

The first truce between Israel and Hamas came into effect today at 7am local time (5.00 GMT), after more than a month and a half of war, as part of an agreement to release 50 hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners, all of them children and women. 

The ceasefire, which will last four days and may be extended to ten if Hamas hands over more hostages, will also allow humanitarian aid to enter the enclave. 

The Palestinian Prisoners' Society, which only publishes the names of prisoners, has reported that since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas on 7 October, 3,145 Palestinians have been detained in the occupied West Bank, a figure that Israel has reduced to around 1,800. 

This figure includes those who "were detained in their homes or at military checkpoints, those who were forced to surrender under pressure and those who were held hostage," the Society said in a statement. 

"The occupation continues with systematic campaigns of arrests, as one of the most prominent constant policies, and which intensified unprecedentedly after 7 October," they say. 

On that day, more than 1,200 people were killed in Israel in an attack by Hamas, which kidnapped 240 people. In retaliation, Israel launched an unprecedented military offensive against Hamas that has claimed the lives of more than 14,500 people, including more than 5,500 children.