Former militant leader Zakaria Zubeidi on Friday called for the “urgent release” of Palestinians from Israeli jails, a day after being freed as part of an ongoing Gaza ceasefire agreement.
“The situation of the prisoners is very difficult and we hope for their urgent release,” Zubeidi told AFP on the sidelines of a reception celebrating his release near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
“We hope that all our Palestinian people will be released from inside the Israeli Bastille,” he added, referring to the infamous French prison stormed by revolutionaries in 1789.
Also read: Rafah crossing between Gaza, Egypt to reopen today instead of Sunday: Report
The 49-year-old, who has been imprisoned several times and was most recently in jail since 2019, is a former leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, the armed wing of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah party.
He was wanted by Israeli security services as the mastermind of several attacks that killed Israelis and served jail time on numerous counts including premeditated murder and attempted murder.
Zubeidi is also known as one of the few inmates to succeed in escaping from Israel’s high-security Gilboa prison in 2021, before being recaptured days later.
Also read: Trump insists Egypt and Jordan will accept displaced Gaza citizens: ‘They’re going to do it’
At his reception Friday, Zubeidi shook hands with political figures and acquaintances and said “It is time for (Palestinians) to obtain their freedom”.
Zubeidi received a hero’s welcome in Ramallah after he was freed on Thursday alongside 109 other prisoners who were held by Israeli authorities.
Earlier in the day, three Israeli hostages held in Gaza were released in the third round of hostage-prisoner exchanges.
Also read: Israeli military kills 10 Palestinians in West Bank strike amid Gaza ceasefire
Qadura Fares, the head of the Palestinian Authority’s agency for prisoners, told AFP negotiations leading to the Palestinian prisoners’ release were “difficult”.
Fares added he hoped the exchanges taking place during the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire would lead “to a complete cessation of this war, a complete Israeli withdrawal, and the release of all male and female prisoners” from Israeli jails.
Disclaimer: This story has been published from a news agency feed with minimal edits to adhere to WION’s style guide. The headline may have been changed to better reflect the content of the story or to make it more suitable for WION audience.