Late-night tears and hugs as Palestinian prisoners freed

Two buses carrying Palestinian prisoners released in the Gaza cease-fire deal inched through a thick crowd when they arrived in the West Bank at 2 a.m. Monday.

As the doors opened, women hugged their relatives and cried tears of joy while throngs of people chanted, waved flags and climbed atop the vehicles. Others lit fireworks in the normally quiet suburb of Beitunia.

Bushra al-Tawil, a Palestinian journalist jailed in Israel in March 2024, was among the first prisoners released in the truce.

Over the next 42 days, around 1,900 Palestinians are set to be freed in exchange for 33 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Tawil began her journey at 3 a.m. the day before, when she was transferred from one prison to another closer to the separation wall. There, she was grouped with other inmates awaiting movement.

A freed Palestinian prisoner speaks on a phone after being released from an Israeli jail as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.Reuters

“The wait was extremely hard. But thank God, we were certain that at any moment we would be released,” she said.

Tawil learned of her release from other inmates who had attended a hearing.

“The lawyers told them the (cease-fire) deal had been announced and was in the implementation phase,” said Tawil, whose father remains in an Israeli jail.

“I was worried about him. He is still a prisoner, but I just received good news that he will be released as part of this deal.”

A crowd of hundreds of Palestinians pressed around Tawil and the 89 other prisoners released in exchange for three Israeli hostages held in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.

Many in the crowd had earlier gathered on a hill in Beitunia to view Israel’s Ofer prison, from where the prisoners were being released.

“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.

Freed Palestinian prisoners react from inside a bus that arrived with them after their release from an Israeli jail as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.Reuters

‘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.

As night fell and the wait continued in the cold, dozens of small fires illuminated the stony hill.

Excitement grew when news broke that the three Israeli hostages had been released.

Muhammad, 20, said he came from Ramallah with friends as soon as he heard the news.

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 freed during the initial 42-day cease-fire period include many held under administrative detention, which does not require formal charges. Others are serving life sentences for attacks that killed Israelis.

Farther in Beitunia, even bigger crowds gathered at the roundabout where the prisoners were eventually dropped off, waving Palestinian and Hamas flags, chanting slogans and filling the streets in anticipation.

Khaleda Jarar, a freed Palestinian prisoner, is greeted after her release from an Israeli jail as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 20, 2025.Reuters

‘There will be lots of crying’

An 18-year-old woman could barely contain her joy as she awaited 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.

“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 added as she stood with 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.

“They accused her of incitement because of posts she wrote on Facebook,” she said, calling the charges “ridiculous” for a middle-aged nurse and trained midwife.

Nearby, Oday waited with his family.

A freed Palestinian prisoner poses for a photo after being released from an Israeli jail as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 20, 2025Reuters

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, who preferred not to give his last name for fear of jeopardizing his son’s release, said his son had been arrested for social media activity.

But he said he wanted to celebrate all the releases Sunday night because he knows what captivity is like.

“You can’t think for yourself and for your son only,” he said, adding that he was happy hostages were being released from Gaza as well.

Nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israel jails as per the ceasefire agreement reached by Israel and Hamas, in exchange for nearly 100 Israelis and foreigners who were captured by Hamas during the Oct 7 attacks in 2023.

The agreement ends a 470-day war Israel had launched on the Gaza strip as a result of the attacks, while killed at least 46,000 Palestinians as per Gaza's official health records.