Palestinians celebrate as prisoners are released by Israel : NPR
A Palestinian prisoner who was released from an Israeli prison as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, upon his arrival in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday.
Majdi Mohammed/AP
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Majdi Mohammed/AP
BEITUNIA, West Bank — Cheers erupted among Palestinians Monday as Israel freed nearly 2,000 prisoners under a Gaza ceasefire deal that swapped them for Israeli hostages freed by Hamas.
Large crowds greeted the freed prisoners in Beitunia, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Khan Younis, in Gaza, holding V-shaped victory signs as they got off International Committee of the Red Cross buses. In Beitunia, they were given traditional keffiyehs as a sign of nationalist pride. Some were carried on people’s shoulders. Others sank into chairs, exhausted.
“It was a journey of indescribable suffering – hunger, unfair treatment, oppression, torture and curses – more than anything you can imagine,” said Kamal Abu Shanab, a 51-year-old Fatah member from the West Bank town of Tulkarem.
His face was thin. He reported losing 139 pounds (59 kilograms) in prison.
“We don’t recognize him. He’s not the person we knew. Our uncle doesn’t look like our uncle,” said his niece, Farah Abu Shanab.
Among those freed are about 1,700 of the thousands of Palestinians whom Israeli troops captured in Gaza during the two-year war and held without charge.
Those released also included 250 Palestinians sentenced to prison terms, most convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis dating back decades, as well as others convicted on less serious charges, according to the Israeli Justice Ministry. Of these, Israel exiled 154, sending them to neighboring Egypt, where authorities announced they would be sent to third countries.
The others were returning to their homes in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.
A profound moment
These communiqués have powerful resonance on both sides.
For Israelis, this is a deeply painful situation, since some of those released have been convicted of attacks that killed civilians and soldiers. For Palestinians, the prisoner issue is politically charged. Almost everyone has a friend or family member who has been imprisoned by Israel, especially young men.
While Israel views the prisoners as terrorists, many Palestinians view them as freedom fighters resisting a decades-long Israeli military occupation. Reports from rights groups detailing conditions of detention – including isolation, abuse and disease – have made prisoners important symbols of their people’s political struggle.
In Khan Younis, thousands of people cheered and celebratory gunshots rang out in the air. The freed Palestinians came out wearing gray overalls and entered the hospital for medical examinations.
Israeli forces have arrested thousands of Palestinians during the war in raids on shelters and hospitals and at checkpoints, arresting families as they flee their homes amid military operations.
A Palestinian prisoner makes the victory sign after being released from an Israeli prison as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, upon his arrival in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday.
Majdi Mohammed/AP
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Majdi Mohammed/AP
Families often had no idea that their loved ones had been detained, and it often took months to determine whether they were being held by Israel, or even confirmation. Most were detained under laws passed in Israel at the start of the war, which allowed Palestinians to be detained for months as “unlawful combatants,” without judicial oversight or access to lawyers.
Rights groups, the United Nations and detainees have reported systematic abuses in detention centers, including beatings and insufficient food.
Israel says it respects prison standards required by law and investigates any reports of violations.
Monday’s release still leaves about 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza in Israeli custody, according to a September count of detainees by the Israeli human rights organization Hamoked.
Warnings not to celebrate
The celebrations in the West Bank took place despite Israeli warnings against it. A leaflet was circulated stating that anyone supporting what it called “terrorist organizations” risked arrest.
Palestinians had gathered on the hills overlooking Ofer prison. An Israeli armored vehicle arrived and fired tear gas and rubber bullets. As drones buzzed overhead, the crowd dispersed.
The Israeli military did not respond to questions.
Who’s on the list
According to a list published by Hamas, among the detainees released in Gaza are two women, six teenagers under the age of 18 and around thirty men over the age of 60.
The list of 250 released convicted prisoners, aged 19 to 64, includes 159 affiliated with Fatah, the political party that rules the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and 63 associated with Hamas. The rest are not affiliated or belong to other groups.
Many were arrested in the early 2000s when the second intifada broke out, a Palestinian uprising fueled by anger over continued Israeli occupation despite years of peace talks. Palestinian armed groups have carried out attacks that have killed hundreds of Israelis, and the Israeli army has killed several thousand Palestinians.
Some were convicted in military trials that rights advocates say often lack due process. Others have been incarcerated for months or years without trial, in what is known as administrative detention. Israel says the practice, widely criticized by Palestinians and human rights groups, is necessary to prevent attacks and avoid the sharing of sensitive intelligence.
Palestinian prisoners wave to the crowd after being released from Israeli prison following a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas on Monday in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Mahmoud Illéan/AP
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Mahmoud Illéan/AP
Hamas’ list did not include about half a dozen high-profile prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti, Hassan Salameh, Ahmed Saadat and Abbas Al-Sayyed. Barghouti is widely seen as a potential successor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
A list of released prisoners published by Israel includes the following:
Raed Cheikh
A 51-year-old Palestinian police officer and member of Fatah, Sheikh was sentenced to multiple life sentences in 2000 for his role in the killing of two Israeli soldiers who were attacked by a mob at a West Bank police station, including one thrown out of the station window.
Mahmoud Issa
A 57-year-old Hamas commander imprisoned for life in 1993 – before the Oslo interim peace accords – Issa was among those convicted of the kidnapping and murder of a 29-year-old Israeli Border Police officer that year. Much of his more than three decades behind bars was spent in solitary confinement, conditions that made him a symbol among prisoners’ rights advocates.
Shamasneh brothers
The two brothers – Mohammed, 56, and Abdel Jawad Shamasneh, 62 – were sentenced in 1993 to multiple life sentences for their roles in a stabbing attack that killed Israeli hitchhikers whose bodies were later found in a riverbed in Jerusalem in 1990, during the first Palestinian Intifada.
Iyad Fatafta
A 47-year-old Fatah member serving a life sentence, Fatafta was one of two men convicted of murder for stabbing American tourist Kristine Luken and a friend who was hiking with her and survived.
