On October 13, the prisoner exchange between the Palestinian resistance and Israel was carried out as part of the latest ceasefire agreement that went into effect on October 10. The Al-Aqsa Flood prisoner exchange deal is the culmination of two years of intense armed resistance against Israel and marks the failure of US-Israeli efforts to free Israeli captives by force. Since the initiation of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, Israel has been forced to release around 4,000 Palestinian prisoners across three prisoner exchanges, including 87% of all Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences.
One of the main goals of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was to secure the release of masses of Palestinian prisoners from the Israeli torture camps, including high profile resistance leaders like Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Saadat—leaders of Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), respectively—with each serving multiple life sentences for their resistance activities. While Israel has refused to release either Barghouti or Saadat in any of the exchanges so far, many Palestinian prisoners—including notable resistance leaders—have been released.
In the latest exchange, Hamas released 20 Israeli prisoners—all soldiers captured on October 7, 2023—for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 serving life sentences. These include high profile resistance fighters who have been convicted of carrying out armed operations over the past few decades, proving that the armed struggle is the only guarantee for their release. Released prisoners showed signs of torture according to Palestinian doctors, with some having had their limbs amputated.
Following the prisoner exchange, Hamas said in a statement, “The enemy failed to recover its prisoners through military pressure, despite its intelligence superiority and the surplus of power it possesses, and here it is submitting and recovering its prisoners through an exchange deal, as the resistance promised from the beginning.”
Ultra-reactionary President Donald Trump and Nazi-fascist Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu have been attempting to spin their losses as great victories despite not achieving any of their objectives: Hamas remains in control and armed, its tunnel networks intact and its support among the people unbroken, and the IDF has failed to occupy the territory. Trump has taken a farcical victory lap, celebrating the ceasefire in a speech at the Israeli parliament followed by a speech at the predatory “Peace Summit” in Egypt, which superficially paints the ceasefire as Trump’s personal victory while repeating the claim that the resistance will disarm under his “deal”. For their part, the resistance has unanimously stated that it will not disarm.
Despite the ceasefire in place, Israel continues to carry out sporadic attacks on Palestinians across Gaza, with 36 documented ceasefire violations taking place as of October 15. This includes the murder of 8 Palestinians, several injuries, and the abduction of 15 Palestinians.
Meanwhile, collaborator gangs—armed by Israel and linked to the lackey Palestinian Authority and in some cases ISIS—opened fire on displaced Palestinians returning to their homes in Gaza. The collaborators assassinated journalist Saleh Aljafarawi, the son of a Qassam Brigades commander, and the son of a Hamas political bureau member shortly after the ceasefire went into effect.
With the backing of the resistance factions, Hamas implemented a policy of general amnesty for collaborators, giving them the option to surrender themselves and their weapons to the resistance. The Gazan government states that over 70 gang members have surrendered so far, while others have escaped to IDF-controlled areas. Other collaborators have been killed in armed clashes and executions for their crimes against the people by Gaza security forces. The withdrawal of the IDF and the dismantling of the hated “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” concentration camps—espionage sites masquerading as aid—have both served to significantly weaken the collaborators in Gaza as the Palestinian resistance reasserts control.
Photo: Palestinian prisoners received in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on October 13. Retrieved from Resistance News Network.
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