{"id":198067,"date":"2025-10-13T22:50:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T22:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/198067\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T22:50:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T22:50:07","slug":"locked-up-for-24-years-release-of-palestinian-prisoners-and-detainees-sparks-joy-and-sorrow-west-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/198067\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Locked up for 24 years\u2019: release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees sparks joy and sorrow | West Bank"},"content":{"rendered":"

The police could not hold the crowds back. As soon as they saw the Palestinian prisoners and detainees through the windows of the bus, hundreds of people gathering in front of a theatre in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank<\/a> rushed forward, chanting the names of loved ones they had not seen for years or, in some cases, decades.<\/p>\n

Their faces were gaunt, the sharp angles decorated by freshly scabbed-over wounds. Loved ones hoisted them up on their shoulders with ease. One, swaddled in a Palestinian keffiyeh and splaying his fingers into a V for victory, was dropped before his mother, whose feet he began to kiss.<\/p>\n

The freed prisoners disembark upon arrival at Ramallah Cultural Centre in the occupied West Bank. Photograph: Zain Jaafar\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

In total, 88 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons and sent to the occupied West Bank on Monday \u2013 the other nearly 2,000, a number that includes about 1,700 Palestinians seized from Gaza<\/a> during the war and held without charge, were sent back to Gaza, where a minority would travel on to neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n

The prisoners and detainees were released by Israel a few hours after all living Israeli hostages were returned from Gaza. The exchange marked the first step in a ceasefire<\/a> that could permanently end the two-year conflict in the territory.<\/p>\n

Before Monday\u2019s release, 11,056 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons, according to statistics from the Israeli NGO HaMoked in October 2025. At least 3,500 of those were held in administrative detention without trial. An Israeli military database has indicated that only a quarter of those detained in Gaza were classified as fighters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jubilation mixed with relief as family members arrived to greet their loved ones. Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The political implication of the release was far from families\u2019 minds in Ramallah on Monday; most were celebrating a day they never thought would come.<\/p>\n

Most of the men returning to the West Bank were serving life sentences and many were charged with violent crimes including murder and deadly attacks against Israelis.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been locked up for 24 years,\u201d said a relative of Saber Masalma, a member of Fatah, the main faction of the Palestine<\/a> Liberation Organization. Masalma was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to life in prison on charges of conspiracy to cause death and placing explosive charges.<\/p>\n

He shoved a phone in Masalma\u2019s face, eager to introduce him to his adult niece over a video call, while he juggled requests for selfies with his relatives.<\/p>\n

He had not seen Masalma for two years, as Israel had restricted family visits after the 7 October attack by Hamas-led militants who killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Masalma had warned him over the phone that he might not recognise him owing to the amount of weight he had lost in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looks like a dead body. But we will bring him back to life,\u201d he said, laughing. They were off to a restaurant, where they would have to be careful that Masalma did not eat too much, as his stomach was not used to much food after not eating well in prison.<\/p>\n

The emotional reunions were heightened by the fact prison visits were suspended by Israel after the 7 October 2023 attack. Photograph: AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The others also looked to be in bad shape. Their cheekbones jutted out, with some bearing the marks of recent beatings and a few unable to walk without being propped up by their relatives.<\/p>\n

When asked about their treatment in the prisons, a prisoner apologised and said he could not answer, for fear that he would face repercussions from Israeli authorities, only saying that it was \u201chorrible\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another said that the conditions were \u201cvery, very, very difficult,\u201d and that the last two years in prison were the \u201cworst two years of his life\u201d, asking that he not be named.<\/p>\n

Palestinians have faced abuse and inhumane treatment in Israeli prisons \u201cas a matter of policy\u201d according to the Israeli human rights organisation B\u2019Tselem. The group alleges that Palestinian detainees are denied medical treatment, adequate food and face physical abuse in Israeli prisons.<\/p>\n

Recently released prisoners described poor treatment within Israel\u2019s jails. Photograph: AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Activists have long said that wide-scale imprisonment of Palestinians is used as a tool to enforce Israel\u2019s occupation of the Palestinian territories, with statistics estimating up to 40% of Palestinians have been arrested at some point. <\/p>\n

Israel says its prison system complies with international law.<\/p>\n

Israel also forbade people from celebrating the release on Monday, firing teargas at family members and journalists waiting near Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank, where detainees were kept. A flyer distributed by the Israeli military warned people that \u201cwe are surveilling you everywhere\u201d and threatening that if they supported \u201cterrorist organisations\u201d they could be arrested.<\/p>\n

Six different relatives of prisoners all said they had been visited by Israeli security services in recent days.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey came to warn us not to hold celebrations, not to raise flags or banners, not to gather in the diwan [hall]. These days, the hardest thing is to speak the truth,\u201d said a relative of the prisoner Hani al-Zeer, who asked not to be identified by name out of fear of security repercussions. Zeer had been imprisoned for 23 years, and the relative, as well as Zeer\u2019s son, had also been imprisoned several times.<\/p>\n

Many of the prisoners had been behind bars for years, and in some cases decades. Photograph: Haitham Imad\/EPA<\/p>\n

Amid the scenes of joy, there was also sorrow. Several families who had been told by the Israeli security services that their family members would be returning home were surprised to see that they were not on the buses on Monday.<\/p>\n

Two different prisoner lists were circulating in the hours before the releases. On one list, some were slated to be released back home, on the other, detainees and prisoners were to be deported to Gaza. <\/p>\n

To Umm Abed, whose brother had been scheduled for release, the sudden possibility that her brother, Kamal Imran, could be deported to Gaza, came as a shock. If he was deported to Gaza, there was virtually no way for her to see him unless he was able to leave the territory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been waiting here for his release for two days. We\u2019re shocked to hear this. The Israelis stormed our house and told us we were forbidden from doing any kind of celebration \u2013 so he should be released,\u201d said Umm Abed, tears in her eyes.<\/p>\n

She waited anxiously as the buses arrived to the drop-off point in Ramallah, waiting for her brother to emerge. When the last man got off the buses with no sign of her brother, she clutched her cheeks and wailed.<\/p>\n

Others evidently had been told their loved ones were to be returned home, only to find out at the last minute that they were being deported. \u201cWhy are they deporting him?\u201d a woman screamed in tears, as police officers rushed her away from the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been easier if they just told us from the beginning. We don\u2019t know where he is. Egypt? Gaza? We are devastated,\u201d said Raed Imran, as he led Umm Abed to the car where she had been preparing to receive her brother.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The police could not hold the crowds back. As soon as they saw the Palestinian prisoners and detainees…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-198067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}