• Palestinian families celebrate the release of prisoners with mixed emotions expressed by those reunited, particularly regarding the ceasefire being temporary.
• Palestinian families rejoiced after the release of prisoners by Israel, as part of a ceasefire agreement concerning Gaza.
Families and friends endured hours in the biting cold, their hearts heavy with anticipation, as they waited for the long-awaited moment to reunite with their loved ones, fulfilling the promise of the hard-fought deal.
Among those freed was 24-year-old Shatha Jarabaa. In an act of profound injustice, she was apprehended for a social media post condemning Israel’s “brutality” during its violent campaign in Gaza. “I’m very happy! Thank God I’m outside. They treated me very badly in prison. It was horrible,” she said.
Shatha was warmly welcomed by her father, Nawaf Jarabaa, 63, who expressed a mixed sense of relief: “I’m happy, but not too happy … My daughter was arrested simply for expressing her ideas … The thing that bothers me the most is that people think the Israelis have only behaved this way towards us since 7 October, but the truth is, it has always been like this.”
His joy was tempered by the absence of two other children who were not included in the agreement.
Another prisoner, Ahmad Khsha, 18, who was arrested in January 2024 in Jenin, recounted his harrowing experience: “They arrested me because my brother died during a shootout in Jenin. After he died, they arrested me. They raided our cells on Saturday before releasing us and threw teargas at us. They tortured us in the cell, every day. They also tortured and mistreated the women.”
Osama Shadeh, who awaited the return of his 17-year-old daughter Aseel, shared his emotional turmoil: “It’s hard to describe the emotion we’re feeling at this moment. My daughter was arrested on 7 November 2024 when she was protesting against the killing of Palestinian children in Gaza. She was waving a Palestinian flag. Israeli soldiers shot her in the foot and handcuffed her. They accused her of trying to stab the soldiers. The fact that she is being released now means that Israel knew that my daughter had done nothing wrong. Yet they kept a minor in jail for over a year.”
Khawlaha Mahfouz, 53, whose daughter Ayat, 33, from Hebron, was detained in June 2024 for an alleged attempted stabbing attack, voiced her ambivalence: “I’m happy, [but] at the same time, my heart is sad and I don’t feel ready to celebrate with all that is happening in Gaza.”
In Al Fawakeh square in Ramallah, hundreds gathered, chanting: “The people want the Al-Qassam Brigades,” referring to Hamas’ armed wing in Gaza. In the Palestinian Territories, the release of prisoners and the ceasefire was largely viewed as a triumph for Hamas over Israel.
