Hamas: +2,000 prisoners released under Gaza deal

Shafaq News – Ramallah

The release of over 2,000 prisoners is a “turning point” for Palestinians, Hamas leader in the West Bank, Zaher Jabarin, said on Thursday, urging world powers to back statehood.

In a video statement, Jabarin said the Toufan al-Aqsa (Al-Aqsa Flood) prisoner exchange “broke the chains of more than 4,000 detainees, including 500 serving life sentences,” calling it one of the movement’s greatest achievements since the war began.

He indicated that assassination attempts would not weaken the movement’s resolve, and that “the battle does not end with gunfire but continues through defending the land, holy sites, and prisoners.”

The Hamas official reaffirmed the movement’s commitment to the agreement aimed at ending hostilities, protecting civilians, and beginning Gaza’s reconstruction.

Palestinian rights “are not open to compromise…Palestine’s statehood is “a right, not a concession,” Jabarin pointed out, adding that the international community now faces “a real test” to implement global consensus on Palestinian statehood and the release of remaining detainees without renewed conflict.

Regarding the situation in the West Bank, he warned that continued detentions and settlement expansion there could “ignite the region,” and cautioned against renewed normalization with Israel “at the expense of Palestinian rights.”