• yesterday

Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com

Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English

Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Transcript
00:00As you join us behind, we can see vehicles, Israeli military vehicles,
00:05leaving off the prison. This is the beginning of the process where these
00:08Palestinian prisoners will be released. Some 183 prisoners are being released as
00:14part of the deal today. They include 150 who will be going to the Gaza Strip,
00:19some 32 to the West Bank who will see their reception in Ramallah a little
00:24later, and one who is being sent back to Egypt. Among those prisoners there are
00:29three who are renowned, infamous life prisoners. Shadi Amori, a car bomber
00:35from 2002, responsible, as Roz says, for 17 deaths. Ashraf Abu Surur, who was
00:41involved in shooting a soldier near Rachel's tomb in Jerusalem in the year
00:452000. And also Ahmed Aslim, who killed an Israeli couple in the West Bank in 2002.
00:52This is, of course, part of the deal. Three hostages, ordinarily would mean one
00:58civilian, 30 prisoners released. That would make a total of 90. But this time,
01:02for a reason as yet unannounced, 183 prisoners are being released. It's said
01:08to include many who were taken off the streets in the wake of October the 7th,
01:122023, in the wake, of course, of Hamas's attack on southern Israel. Mark, it's
01:18it's difficult to know, but any ideas to the breakdown of those prisoners? Yes, the
01:28the three that I mentioned are, of course, long-serving life sentenced
01:33prisoners, who are infamous in many, many ways. The breakdown
01:40after that is really difficult to ascertain, given the scale of the numbers
01:46183. Israel always publicizes the fact that there are life prisoners involved
01:52in this, who've been involved, they say, in heinous terrorist crimes. But on the
01:56other side of the equation, there are often Palestinians who've been taken, put
02:00away for no specific reasons, as far as they're concerned. We've had cases of
02:04journalists being arrested for being journalists, basically. The youngest
02:07prisoner, of course, who was taken into the Israeli prison
02:13system. We can hear fireworks going off in the distance, in case you're concerned
02:16about any noise you might hear behind me. The youngest prisoner, of course, was just
02:1915 years old. So, I mean, basically there's all manner of prisoners being
02:23taken into the system, and we will find out more as we go along. But the news
02:26here at Offa Prison is that the process for their freedom is underway.

Recommended