Category World News

In order to implement the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the first trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza via the Rafah crossing. Every day, hundreds of trucks are expected to arrive, providing Palestinians who are desperately in need of fuel and food.

Ceasefire comes after 15 months of Israel’s devastating war on the Palestinian territory.

As part of the Gaza Strip’s ceasefire agreement, Hamas handed over the first three female captives, according to Israeli authorities.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Sunday evening that 24-year-old Romi Gonen, 28-year-old Emily Damari, and 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher were handed over to the Red Cross and are “in safe hands” in Israel.

After Hamas brought the captives to as-Saraya Square, the Red Cross vehicles left Gaza City and entered the heavily besieged northern part of the city as a crowd gathered.

90 Palestinian prisoners were being detained by a Red Cross team before being released from Ofer Prison in Israel as part of the cease-fire agreement.

The ceasefire agreement will be implemented in three phases, including bringing in more humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza to help the area’s disaster. As Israeli forces leave some of Gaza, the first stage will last 42 days.

Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Hamas military, stated in a televised speech that the Palestinian organization is committed to the agreement, but that its continued application will depend on Israel’s reciprocity.

He claimed that a deal could have been reached more than a year ago but was thwarted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “malicious ambitions.”

The Israeli leader has vowed to fight despite the resignation of some far-right lawmakers from his government, which is led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. After the release of the first captives, Netanyahu emphasized that Israel will pursue all of its war goals, including “defeating” Hamas and releasing all of the captives.

Former US President Joe Biden said “guns in Gaza have gone silent” and welcomed the ceasefire with international attention.

After more than 15 months of deadly Israeli attacks that have claimed the lives of more than 46, 000 Palestinians and thousands of others, thousands of Palestinians have flocked to the long-awaited ceasefire, which may help the situation in Gaza.

Reporting from as-Saraya Square, Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim Khalili described scenes of joy among the crowd.

“They are beyond happy”, he said. After 15 months of fighting that destroyed everything, celebrations are taking place all over. This is a historic moment”.

The captives are scheduled to be immediately taken to an Israeli military facility for identification and then airlifted to a hospital in the country’s center. After being reunited with their families, they will be there for at least four days for psychological and medical evaluations.

This week, Israeli forces and the prison services reported how they had been getting ready to release the prisoners.

During the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, about 250 people were taken. Approximately 100 of Gaza’s captives are still there even though it is unknown how many of them are still alive after their bodies were recovered in late 2023.

The three Israeli prisoners who will be freed in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners have been identified by Al Jazeera.

The list, which includes mostly women and a few children, includes all of the people who are currently occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the occupied West Bank, Khalida Jarrar, is named among the list’s names. Others on the list include at least 12 young Palestinian men, some of them under 19 years of age, and minors.

Numerous children and minors have been detained for allegedly throwing rocks at Israeli forces, according to Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim.

“We are talking about light sentences”, she said. The list of prisoners, the hundreds of names that have been released, largely serve administrative detention, which is a tactic employed by Israeli policy to keep prisoners imprisoned indefinitely without being charged. These administrative detentions keep getting renewed.

I spent 14 years imprisoned at the Guantanamo detention facility, but I never faced criminal charges. When I was 19 years old, I was assigned there. I didn’t know why I was being held, what I had done to be imprisoned, or when I would be released.

I backed the American forces’ commitment to upholding their own ideals of justice and legality, and that I would be able to defend myself and establish my innocence like many other men who were detained at Guantanamo. That never happened.

Instead, I was subjected to torture and continual harassment. After 14 years, I fought for human rights and human rights, and I was freed. I had the idea that one day the world would find out what had happened to us and demand accountability and justice while I was imprisoned. I believed that if people knew, they would end this miserable place.

Nearly nine years have passed since my release. I have continued to write and speak in interviews about what has happened all this time. The world knows, and yet, Guantanamo is still functioning.

Earlier this month, we marked the 23rd anniversary of its creation. We are approaching the end of a US president’s term that he had promised to end. One has to wonder after all the reports by the United Nations and various human rights organisations, media reports, documentaries, books, etc – why is this symbol of injustice still standing?

Following the tragic event that shook the world, Guantanamo established itself. In its wake, the US launched the so-called global “war on terror”, a campaign ostensibly aimed at combating terrorism but which, in reality, legalised torture, undermined international law, and dehumanised an entire faith community.

Guantanamo detention center, which is located on the island of Cuba, was purposefully constructed to avoid international norms and constitutional protections, making it a place where detainees could be held indefinitely without facing charges or trials.

Indefinite detention is a direct assault on justice principles. The very foundation of legal systems is the practice of holding people without charge or trial. Detainees are subject to years, sometimes decades, of suffering without any apparent resolution because of it.

Guantanamo became a blueprint for other forms of extrajudicial detention, torture, and human rights abuses worldwide. The proliferation of CIA black sites, the normalization of Islamophobia, and the deterioration of international standards intended to safeguard human dignity all demonstrate the prison’s legacy.

Guantanamo is the most infamous symbol of the global war on terror, institutionalizing practices that dehumanize Muslims. It fuelled Islamophobic rhetoric, justified invasive surveillance programmes, and stigmatised entire communities as potential threats.

The US took the lead on all this, and many states followed suit, using US “war on terror” rhetoric to justify attacks on whole communities. Muslim and other under-represented groups have suffered the most as a result.

At its peak, Guantanamo held&nbsp, approximately 680&nbsp, men and boys, many of whom had been sold as “terrorists” to US forces in exchange for renumeration. I was affected by this.

As of today, 15 men remain in Guantanamo. Some have been released, but they continue to languish in limbo, a sign that US institutions are failing to uphold even the most fundamental human rights. Every day is a continuation of psychological and physical torment for these men, a state of being neither free nor formally accused.

Guantanamo will be closed for the past 16 years, according to numerous reports. In 2009, US President Barack Obama famously swore an executive order to require the facility’s closure in his second day in office. Then-Vice President Joe Biden&nbsp, was standing right next to him, applauding. Biden both made and broke the same promise when he became president in 2021.

The prison still costs about $ 540 million annually.

Guantanamo continues to operate, leaving the US with a moral stumbling legacy. It stands as a glaring contradiction of the ideals of liberty, justice, and human rights that the US claims to champion. Its existence undermines authoritarian regimes’ credibility around the world and makes them more willing to defend their own crimes.

I wait for the international community to wake up and demand action to end the military prison, bring justice to its victims, and hold those responsible for its creation and perpetuity accountable every year. Every year I am disappointed.

More than just a crime against its detainees and their families, Guantanamo Military Prison is. For over two decades, it has symbolised systematic torture, arbitrary detention, and the weakening of the global human rights regime. Guantanamo violates the Geneva Conventions and uses systematically to abuse primarily Muslim detainees in ways that entail crimes against humanity.

As a new administration takes office in Washington, I have the same message for them as I had for their predecessors:

Close Guantanamo. Stop the indefinite detention practice and shut down the facility.

Secure justice. Give the rest of the candidates fair trials and release those who have been transferred.

Ensure accountability. Investigate and hold accountable those responsible for authorising torture, extrajudicial detention, and other abuses.

Acknowledge and apologise. Accept and express regret for the injustices committed.

Provide reparations. Former prisoners are to be compensated for the harm they suffered.

Shuttering Guantanamo is more than just about ending a physical location; it also symbolizes ending a dark period in history. It’s about reaffirming the principles of justice, dignity, and human rights that should be upheld for all people, regardless of their origin or beliefs. Guantanamo must not see another anniversary.