THE ISRAELI Prison Service has said it will be taking measures to prevent any “public displays of joy” when prisoners are released as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
A statement by the prison service says this is to “limit shows of joy” among Palestinians as they don’t want people celebrating in the occupied West Bank or occupied East Jerusalem.
It was announced on Saturday morning that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is expected to begin at 8.30am local time on Sunday (6.30am GMT).
The statement from the prison service said: “The commissioner of the Israel Prison Service, 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 Red Cross.”
Yakobi told any prisoners earmarked for release to “refrain from expression of joy within Israel”.
Israeli strikes on Gaza have continued despite the imminent ceasefire with a number of people wounded in a drone attack west of the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reports.
Former SNP MP Dr Philippa Whitford, who worked as a surgeon in Gaza, also shared footage she described as “appalling” showing an attack on Al-Tiffah in southern Gaza.
Appalling! https://t.co/zZ0he4vMJ8
— Dr Philippa Whitford (@Dr_PhilippaW) January 18, 2025
Speaking to the broadcaster, Hassan Barari with Qatar University said that Israel’s military is likely to keep up their attacks “until the last minute”.
According to Gaza’s civil defence teams on Friday, at least 122 people have been killed since the ceasefire deal was announced earlier this week.
The overall number of people killed in Israel’s bombardment has risen to 46,899, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.
A spokesperson for the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) meanwhile has said the organisation is poised to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza during the ceasefire.
In October, Israel passed a law which bans the agency from operating on Israeli territory and areas under Israel’s control with the ban set to take effect next month.
Spokesperson Tamara Alrifai said: “We’re extremely eager to see the humanitarian part of the ceasefire, actioned as of tomorrow morning, and extremely worried that if UNRWA is prevented from being able to work then glue that brings together the entire complex humanitarian operation might not be able to function.”
