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Scenes of jubilation in Gaza, more restrained celebrations in Ramallah as Palestinian prisoners are freed
In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, there were scenes of jubilation as a crowd of over 250,000 residents of the Strip gathered in the main square of Gaza City to welcome 296 Palestinian prisoners who were returned to Gaza as part of the deal to release Shalit. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh addressed the crowd. Hamas’ Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar and Parliamentary Speaker Ahmed Bahr were also in attendance. Haniyeh vowed not to ‘forget’ the Palestinian prisoners still in Israeli jails, as the crowd called for more kidnappings of Israeli soldiers. He described the prisoner swap deal as a ‘turning point’ in the struggle against the ‘Zionist enemy.’
In the West Bank, by contrast, the scenes were much more subdued. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas official Hassan Youssef gave speeches before a crowd gathered at the Muqata’a compound, the Ramallah headquarters of the PA President. Abbas welcomed the freed prisoners as ‘freedom fighters and holy warriors.’ In total 477 Palestinian prisoners were released in the course of the day. The remainder of the 1027 Palestinian prisoners slated to be released as part of the deal are expected to leave custody within two months from now. The relatively restrained events in Ramallah reflect the fact that the prisoner deal constitutes a major achievement for Hamas, and therefore a setback for the Ramallah-based, Fatah-led PA leadership.
Together with the happiness at the release of Gilad Shalit, a discussion is now expected to take place in Israel regarding the laying down of guidelines regarding future negotiations for the release of kidnapped soldiers. Despite the happiness at the successful securing of Shalit’s release, there is widespread public disquiet in Israel regarding the freeing of individuals convicted of some of the most heinous terror attacks against Israeli civilians in recent years.