The prison service said that two jails had begun preparations for the releases by gathering prisoners to be freed [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty]
The Israel Prison Service said on Friday it was taking measures to prevent any “public displays of joy” when Palestinian prisoners are released as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
It said in a statement that it was preparing for the release of prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages held in Gaza, which the prime minister’s office said could begin on Sunday.
The prison service said that two jails, one near Jerusalem and another near the southern city of Ashkelon, had begun preparations for the releases by gathering prisoners to be freed.
“The commissioner of the Israel Prison Service, Major General Kobi Yakobi, instructed that.. to prevent public displays of joy in Ashkelon and other areas of Israel, the escort from ‘Shikma’ Prison will not be handled by civilian buses of the (International Committee of the) Red Cross,” the statement said.
The Geneva-based ICRC oversaw the only previous prisoner exchange of the war, in November 2023, when 105 hostages held in Gaza were freed, the 80 Israelis among them in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
Instead “special units” from the prison service would handle transport, the statement said.
Jakobi also told prisoners earmarked for release to “refrain from expressions of joy within Israel”.
Israel’s security cabinet approved the deal on Friday and it now goes before the full cabinet.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir urged his political allies to reject the deal in a statement on Friday, pointing to the releases.
He said that Palestinians “serving life sentences” for killing Israelis would be released in Israel and the occupied West Bank.
“I call on my friends in Likud and Religious Zionism, it’s not too late, we are before a government meeting, this deal can still be stopped,” he said, referring to two other parties in the governing coalition.
During the initial 42 days of the ceasefire, 33 hostages are to be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, according to mediators and officials from both sides.
