Israel raids homes of West Bank prisoners set to be released in deal

The Israeli army has raided the homes of several Palestinian prisoners in the occupied West Bank whose names were included in the list of prisoners to be released in an exchange deal following the Gaza ceasefire.

The raids on Sunday morning targeted the homes of several prisoners who were to be released, as well as prisoners who were to be deported to the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The raids included homes in Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron, Tulkarm and Qalqilya.

Israel agreed to release 250 Palestinian prisoners serving long sentences and life sentences, and 1,700 prisoners from the Gaza Strip captured during the war, in exchange for Hamas releasing all Israeli prisoners, both alive and dead.

Israel has refused to include Palestinian prisoner leaders in the deal, most notably Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Ahmed Saadat, and Hamas leader Abdullah Barghouti, threatening to sabotage the agreement if Hamas continued to pressure mediators to release them.

The raids on Palestinian prisoner homes come as detainees are being transferred and Israeli preparations are underway to regroup them in Ofer and Naqab prisons, in preparation for their release to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

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