BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Israel released 26 veteran Palestinian prisoners Tuesday at 2.15 a.m. completing a third stage of the release of 104 prisoners held in Israeli jails before the Oslo Accords of 1994. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to set the prisoners free before peace talks between Israel and the PLO were resumed in July. Eighteen prisoners from the West Bank were released from Ofer detention center near the Ramallah-area town of Beitunia, while five prisoners from Jerusalem were set free at al-Zaytouna checkpoint near al-Ezariya in East Jerusalem. Three inmates from the Gaza Strip were freed at Erez checkpoint on the borders between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip. The West Bank prisoners headed immediately to the presidential compound in Ramallah where they were welcomed by President Mahmoud Abbas along with PA officials and thousands of citizens. more
Until now, the besieged Gaza Strip has stayed free of the novel coronavirus spreading across the world. As the Gaza Strip has been under a stringent Israeli-led blockade for nearly 13 years, the spread of the coronavirus - officially known as COVID-19 - has become the topic of discussion for many Palestinians, with some joking that the blockade was preventing them from being exposed.But as authorities in the coastal Palestinian enclave gear up to contain any potential outbreak, serious questions have arisen about the risks and implications of such a scenario. But given its already difficult humanitarian situation and high population density, an outbreak in the Gaza Strip could prove to be catastrophic, health officials have warned. "If the virus enters Gaza and spreads, it will get out of hand," Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Majdi Thuhair told Middle East Eye, as he explained that a severe shortage of resources and personnel would make it near impossible