Israeli releases about 40 prisoners from Gaza back into enclave after finding no terror connections

Israel released around 40 detainees from the Gaza Strip, including two women, back to the enclave via the Kerem Shalom crossing, Israeli media reported on Tuesday morning.

According to a security source who spoke to KAN news, the suspects were initially detained during Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities.

After being interrogated, Israeli security services found the suspects were not terrorists and released them to return to Gaza.

Palestinian social media showed footage of the detainees arriving at Khan Younis hospital for checkups. Some of them were also filmed complaining about the harsh conditions of their detainment in Israel.

تغطية صحفية: لحظة وصول عدد من الأسرى إلى مستشفى غزة الأوروبي، بعد أن أفرج عنهم الاحتلال صباح اليوم عبر معبر كرم أبو سالم. pic.twitter.com/Acw1uPSPk4

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) August 20, 2024

Israel has routinely released detainees back to the Gaza Strip after determining they were not linked to terrorism. In some cases, detainees were also released if they were deemed low-risk and Israeli detention centers lacked sufficient space.

This is what seems to have happened in July, when the director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, where several Israeli hostages were taken on Oct. 7 after being captured by Hamas terrorists, was released from an Israeli prison without charges. 

Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya was greeted enthusiastically upon his return to Gaza and immediately attacked Israel in public statements.

The controversial decision caused a bout of mutual accusations between Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) regarding who was responsible.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced that a team would be established to verify and confirm the identities of detainees whose interrogations were completed before their release.

“The release of the director of Shifa Hospital is a serious mistake and a moral failure. This man, under whose responsibility our kidnappers were murdered and held, belongs in prison,” Netanyahu said at the time.

The IDF has arrested thousands of Palestinians since Oct. 7, including Hamas terrorists captured inside Israel during the first days of the war, suspects detained during operations in the Gaza Strip, as well as thousands who were arrested during raids in Judea and Samaria. The situation has created a significant lack of prison space, despite the Sde Teiman military base being converted to a detention center.

Last month, the Sde Teiman base was the center of tumultuous scenes after a mob, including several Knesset members, stormed the gates to protest the arrest of nine IDF soldiers suspected of maltreating a captured Hamas terrorist held at the facility.

In May, the IDF’s chief military prosecutor, Maj.-Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi said that the Military Police had launched approximately 70 investigations regarding suspected criminal offenses by IDF soldiers, including “allegations made regarding the detention conditions at the ‘Sde Teiman’ detention facility, and the deaths of detainees in IDF custody.”