-1.5 C
Frankfurt am Main

15 freed Palestinian prisoners have arrived in Turkey: FM

Must read

Fifteen Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel under the terms of a Gaza ceasefire have arrived in Turkey, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reported.

“A few days ago, 15 Palestinians came to Turkey via Cairo after they were released,” he told a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty.

The former detainees were issued visas by the Turkish embassy in Cairo, he said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan instructed the country’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) to facilitate safe travel for the Palestinians and provide them with a secure life in Turkey, the sources told state-run Anadolu news agency on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The Turkish intelligence organization acted swiftly to facilitate the arrival of 15 displaced Palestinians through Egypt as efforts were made to provide them with a secure life in Turkey, sources told Anadolu.

In 2011, Turkey took in 11 Palestinians who were freed as part of a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas that saw Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit released in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian detainees.

Following over a year of Israeli military attacks in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli government and the Palestinian militant group Hamas signed an agreement last month to cease hostilities and exchange Israeli hostages in Gaza with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The first phase of the prisoner exchange began on January 19, with three Israeli women freed in exchange for 90 Palestinian detainees — women and minors — from the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem.

In the second phase, Israel released 199 Palestinian detainees and a Jordanian prisoner in exchange for four Israeli women soldiers held in Gaza.

Under the three-stage agreement, lasting 42 days per phase, Israel agreed to release between 1,700 and 2,000 detainees in exchange for 33 Israeli captives in Gaza, whether alive or deceased.

Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023 that resulted in the death of 1,206 people and the taking of some 250 hostages.

Authorities in Gaza have recently revised the death toll in the Palestinian enclave upwards to 61,709 since October 7, 2023, after accounting for at least 14,000 people believed to be missing or buried under the rubble.

report released by Amnesty International on December 5 concludes that Israel’s actions in Gaza qualify as genocide.

In November the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel must also answer to the International Court of Justice for genocide due to its war on Gaza.

More News
Latest News