Ruth Michaelson & Osayfa Taha
The Observer / January 25, 2025
Families greet the 200 prisoners released from facilities in central Israel and occupied West Bank.
Ramallah – In a sports hall on the outskirts of Ramallah, three skinny men in grey prison sweatsuits and plastic sandals embraced their beaming friends before being lifted on to their shoulders and carried out into the waiting crowds.
Outside the friends and families of those released gathered in anticipation, some waving flags from Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and a smaller leftwing faction, others handing out baklava. One man with a shaved head, wispy beard and sunken eyes was carried on the shoulders of the crowd chanting “long live the resistance”.
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“I can’t even find the words to say what I feel right now,” said Ahmed Khudjury from Qalqilya in the northern West Bank, as he waited for his family to arrive to collect him.
“I only managed to feel some joy when I saw the happiness of the other prisoners being released,” he said.
Palestinians welcome prisoners freed as part of ceasefire deal – video
There were 114 prisoners released into scenes of celebration around the municipal building in Ramallah, after the release of four Israeli female soldiers held hostage by Hamas for 15 months. A total of 200 Palestinian prisoners were released from two facilities, one in the Negev desert in central Israel and the second on the outskirts of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
The mood in Ramallah was joyous, as crowds gathered to await the arrival of more thin pale men with shaved heads. Some clutched plastic bags of toiletries or medical supplies, as they fanned through the sports hall to find their loved ones and embrace friends in welcome. Outside, cars honked their horns, children leaning out of the windows to wave Palestinian flags.
For Palestinians, the detainees released from Israeli detention were heroes, both for having endured prison but also sometimes for carrying out the crimes they were charged with. This included many like Khudjury, who said they had served time for violent attacks on Israeli forces and on civilians. He had served half of a 14-year sentence for a stabbing attack, he said.
Despite the charges against many of those released, Palestinians often view their ability to withstand the harsh conditions of the Israeli prison system as a point of pride.
Prison conditions inside Israeli jails also dramatically worsened after Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israeli towns and kibbutzim around Gaza, with detainees increasingly complaining of abuse and a lack of basic supplies.
“Every day they beat us, they used dogs to attack us in the prison,” Khudjury said of his time in Naqab prison, where the Israeli prison service cut water and electricity supplies five days after Hamas’s attack. “There was barely any food after that, and there were no showers.”
Mohammed Rami, who said he was waiting for his neighbour Obeida Abu Rass, was there with his two children, including his young son dressed in a shiny satin cap and scarf in the green colours of Hamas. Abu Rass has spent nine years in prison for his role in a stabbing attack, he said.
Rami said he was “so proud” of Abu Rass for having endured Israeli prison, as he embraced others recently released in welcome. “I pray all of these prisoners will be able to meet their families like this,” he said.
While some of those released returned to Gaza, a place devastated by 15 months of Israeli assault, about 70 prisoners were slated for deportation, reportedly to Algeria, Tunisia and Turkey. This included Mohammed al-Tous, a 69-year-old member of Fatah imprisoned since 1985 for “anti-Israel operations”, making him the detainee who has spent the longest continuous time in jail.
Many of the detainees released into the cold afternoon air in Ramallah thanked Hamas for their freedom, in a nod to the ceasefire deal that ended 15 months of fighting in Gaza and will see 33 Israeli hostages exchanged for almost 2,000 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.
“I thank the people of Gaza,” said Khalil Jabarieh from Jenin, as a short burst of celebratory gunfire pierced the air. “And I thank Hamas.”
Those due to be released as part of the continuing exchange include at least 1,000 Palestinian men, women and children detained after the 7 October attack. It also includes a further 47 detainees who were rearrested, despite having previously been released in a 2011 prisoner swap that saw the former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar released to Gaza, in exchange for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Israel has specified that none of those released in the most recent swap are accused of participation in the 7 October attacks.
Some prisoners, like Khudjury, said they aimed to return home to their villages, but several of the prisoners from West Bank towns such as Nablus and Jenin said they would remain in Ramallah or find somewhere else to stay owing to continuing Israeli raids on the towns. Israeli forces began an assault on the Jenin refugee camp that is now in its fifth day, including using military bulldozers to penetrate deep inside the camp, and killing at least 12 people with live ammunition while injuring dozens more.
Iyad Jaradeh clutched a sandwich and a cup of coffee outside the sports hall as he spoke to those gathering around him.
“This freedom, it feels like being in love,” he said, almost laughing at the idea. His mood darkened immediately on discussing his time in prison, his eyes widening as the tears came. Jaradeh said he was serving 22 years in prison for the murder of an Israeli citizen.
“There was torture,” he said of his treatment in detention, his face reddening with pain as he attempted not to cry. He was unsure if he would make it back to Jenin.
Wael Jaor, 24, said that despite what he had endured in prison and fear of further Israeli raids on his town, he would attempt to get home to Nablus. “The Israelis are attacking everywhere right now, not just Nablus,” he said. “I will try to go back. I want all the detainees to experience this freedom.”
Azmi Naffah sat on a chair outside the complex, eating an apple with his eyes wide with joy. Naffah was visibly skinnier than some of the other detainees and huddled into a navy coat that his family had provided him.
“I’m struggling to find the words,” he said of his newfound freedom after nine years in prison. Naffah was arrested when 21 years old and charged with attempted murder. Now that he is free, he said, he wanted to go back to college and finally finish his studies in law.
“Prison was hard, especially after the war began,” he said. “But it’s nothing compared with what the people of Gaza have been through.”
Ruth Michaelson is a journalist based in Istanbul
