Jubilant crowds welcomed the cars carrying Palestinian prisoners just released by Israel with tears of joy after the last living Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip were freed, Agence France-Presse reported.
Hundreds of people welcomed the freed prisoners under a truce brokered by the US, which provides for the release of 250 people "held for security reasons" by Israel in exchange for Israeli hostages. Among those detained are many convicted of murderous anti-Israel attacks, as well as 1,700 Palestinians arrested in Gaza since the start of the war in October 2023.
Meanwhile, the European Commission did not rule out today a review of the proposal to impose restrictions on Israel due to its actions in Gaza so far. The measures were proposed in a given context and if the context changes, there may be a change in the proposal, a commission spokesman said at a press conference in response to questions related to the agreement between Israel and "Hamas" and the release of the hostages.
We welcome the role of the mediators in reaching the agreement, the spokesman added. According to him, the upcoming meeting of EU foreign ministers next week will provide an opportunity to discuss the next steps.
We are ready to use all means at our disposal to facilitate the implementation of the agreement, the spokesman added. He declined to answer the question of whether Israel should pay for the reconstruction of Gaza, but noted that the EU has already expressed its readiness to participate in the reconstruction work.
Last month, the European Commission proposed to suspend some trade-related provisions of the EU-Israel association agreement and to impose sanctions on "Hamas". The Commission announced that it was suspending its bilateral support for Israel and future payments between 2025 and 2027, as well as ongoing institutional cooperation projects with Israel and projects. The measure was taken after assessing that the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza constitute a violation of respect for human rights and democratic principles. This gives the EU the right to freeze the agreement unilaterally, the Commission said in a statement at the time.