Palestinians cheer as freed prisoners arrive at homes

Joyous Palestinians rushed to embrace prisoners freed under a US-brokered ceasefire agreement as they arrived by bus to the occupied West Bank and Gaza on Monday.

- Agencies

The prisoners were released after the Hamas militant group freed the last 20 living hostages taken during the October 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war in Gaza.

Israel released 1,968 prisoners, mostly Palestinians, under a Gaza ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump.

Several thousand people gathered inside and around the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, awaiting the arrival of freed prisoners, with some waving Palestinian flags and others holding pictures of their relatives.

Fighting back tears, one woman who asked to be identified as Um Ahmed said she said that despite her joy at the release, she still had “mixed feelings” about the day.