Samar Faisal stood among a crowd in the crisp winter air, shivering as much from her excitement as the cold. She was in disbelief, she said, that this day had come. Her brother, after spending more than 20 years in an Israeli prison, was being released.
“I’m anxious and praying for the moment I finally see him,” Ms. Faisal said, as volunteers in fluorescent vests hurried by. Her brother had been jailed for fighting in the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the United States and European Union designate a terrorist group.
Ms. Faisal was among a throng of Palestinian families gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday, eagerly waiting to welcome more than 100 Palestinian prisoners being released from Israel in exchange for hostages held in Gaza. It was the third hostage-for-prisoner swap in an ongoing cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. During the first 42 days of the agreement, Hamas has pledged to free at least 33 hostages in exchange for over 1,500 Palestinians jailed by Israel.
Standing outside a government recreation center, people restlessly checked their phones for news or fielded calls from loved ones who were anxious for updates.
Finally, around 7 p.m., a chain of buses arrived carrying dozens of Palestinian prisoners, including some who had been convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis. Sixty-seven prisoners arrived in Ramallah on Thursday, including 27 children, officials said. Another 14 arrived in Jerusalem and nine in Gaza, while 20 were sent to Egypt.
Earlier in the day, Hamas had released eight Israeli and Thai hostages held in Gaza.
For some waiting outside the recreation center, their anticipation was tempered by sorrow.
Alaa Zubeidi waited with her sisters and friends, all dressed in the black clothes of mourning in memory of her eldest son, Mohammad, who was killed by an Israeli drone strike in the West Bank city of Tubas in September.
She was awaiting the release of her husband, Zakariya Zubeidi, a former militant turned theater director whom Israeli forces arrested in 2019. He became well known in both Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2019 for briefly escaping an Israeli prison.
The Zubeidi family was removed from their home in Jenin by Israeli forces after Mohammad’s death, and Ms. Zubeidi and two of her other children, Samira and Ayham, were arrested and detained for several hours. Since then, she said, operations by Palestinian security forces had left them unable to return to their home.
But those concerns were eclipsed by joy after Mr. Zubeidi’s release on Thursday, when people in the crowd hoisted him onto their shoulders and chanted his name.
Beaming, Mr. Zubeidi flashed the victory sign with both hands.
“May God protect Jenin camp at this time,” he told the crowd. “Today is a public referendum in favor of the fighters.”
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