Crowds wait into the night for Palestinians release from Israeli prisons

AFP , Monday 20 Jan 2025

​Standing around fires, crowds braved the cold on Sunday night along the route where Palestinian prisoners are to be released from Israeli prisons as part of a Gaza ceasefire deal.

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Family members and relatives of Palestinian prisoners, stand around bonfires while waiting for their release, on a hill above the Israeli Ofer Prison, in occupied Ramallah on January 19, 2025. AFP

 

Hundreds gathered on a hill in the usually quiet suburb of Beitunia, whose location offers a view of Israel's Ofer prison, on the other side of the separation wall.

On the West Bank side, throngs arrived to witness the first release of hundreds of Palestinians in exchange for three Israelis held in Gaza since October 7, 2023.

"As soon as the atmosphere began, we came here to witness it and feel the emotions, just like the families of the prisoners who are being released today," said Amanda Abu Sharkh, 23, from the nearby city of Ramallah.

'They feel like family' 

"All the prisoners being released today feel like family to us. They are part of us, even if they're not blood relatives," she told AFP.

The first batch of 90 Palestinian prisoners, including 69 women and 21 boys, were scheduled to be released as part of the captive-prisoner swap under the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The Israeli Prison Service said it would release the freed prisoners to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Among the 90 Palestinian prisoners scheduled for release today is 15-year-old Mahmoud Aliowat, the youngest of the prisoners."

As night fell, dozens of small fires illuminated the stony hill where people waited patiently.

Muhammad, 20, said he had come from Ramallah with his friends.

Recently released from Ofer prison himself, he expressed "great joy" at the thought of families being reunited.

"I know a lot of people in prison, there are innocent people, children, and women," he said.

The prisoners set to be released during the initial 42-day ceasefire period include many held under the so-called Israeli administrative detention, which does not require formal charges.

Others are serving life sentences.

Elsewhere in Beitunia, hundreds gathered at a roundabout where prisoners are expected to arrive, waving Palestinian and Hamas flags, chanting slogans and filling the streets in anticipation.

'There will be lots of crying'

An 18-year-old woman could barely contain her joy as she awaited for her mother's release.

"I'll hug her right away -- of course, I'll hug her. At first, it'll just be tears of joy," she said when asked what she would do when her mother would arrive.

"After that, she'll tell us about her time in prison, and we'll tell her about our lives without her. I'm sure there will be a lot of crying," she said as she stood by her brother, sister and aunt.

Her mother, a doctor, had been arrested in January 2024 in the north of the occupied West Bank for social media activity, she said.

Nearby, Oday waited with his family.

Though he had been freed after being arrested with his son at the start of the war, his son remains detained and is not on the initial release list.

Oday said his son had been arrested also for his social media activity.

But he said he wanted to celebrate all the releases on Sunday night with his family, because he knows what captivity is like.

"I was in jail and I know what's going on," he told AFP.

"You can't think for yourself and for your son only," he said.

 

* This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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