Hundreds of freed Palestinian prisoners and detainees have been welcomed with tears, ululations, and screams of joy as they were released by Israel to reunite with their families in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The large-scale release — one of the most significant in years — involved about 250 prisoners convicted of serious crimes, including murder and deadly attacks against Israelis, and around 1,700 detainees from Gaza who had been held without charge.
As buses operated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) arrived in Ramallah, emotional scenes unfolded. Many of the freed prisoners, draped in the traditional Keffiyeh scarves, appeared pale, weak, and visibly gaunt after years in detention. Some struggled to walk as relatives rushed to embrace them.
The mass release was part of a hostage-prisoner exchange deal that also saw 20 Israeli hostages freed by Hamas. The remains of several deceased hostages are also expected to be returned under the same arrangement.
“He is ready to embrace freedom,” said Amro Abdullah, 24, who waited anxiously for his cousin Rashid Omar, 48, arrested in 2005 and sentenced to life imprisonment by an Israeli court.
“I want peace. I want to live a happy life, safe and peaceful, without occupation and without restrictions,” he added.
It is believed that about 100 prisoners were released into the West Bank, while others will be deported, and a smaller group freed into East Jerusalem.
Israeli authorities had signaled ahead of the exchange that they sought to avoid the jubilant scenes seen in previous deals, when large crowds waved Hamas flags in celebration. Many families refrained from speaking to journalists, saying they had been warned by Israeli forces not to engage with the media.
In Gaza, families gathered outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where a field hospital was prepared to receive those released from detention.
“This is a very beautiful feeling — happy, a day of joy,” said Muhammad Hasan Saeed Dawood, 50, who was waiting for his son.
“We call it a national holiday, that our detainees are being released despite the cost of the war, the martyrs, the injured, and the destruction in Gaza.”
Another parent, Khalil Muhammad Abdulrahman Al-Qatrous, expressed mixed emotions as he waited for his son, detained for three months.
“There is joy, and there is pain, and there is happiness, and there is sorrow,” he said. “We came here expecting them at 10:00. It’s now past noon, and we’re still waiting — on edge.”
In Ramallah, ambulances from the Palestine Red Crescent Society stood by to treat returning prisoners, some of whom showed signs of physical abuse.
“The crying and the silence — this shows you how the families are feeling,” said Ibrahim Ifani, 23, a volunteer nurse. “For all the people in Palestine, it’s a deep, deep emotion.”
Several medics and family members alleged that prisoners had suffered beatings and starvation in the days leading up to their release. While the BBC said it could not verify claims of mistreatment, Israel’s top court recently ruled that Palestinian inmates were not being given adequate food.
Aya Shreiteh, 26, of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, described “serious violations” of prisoners’ rights.
“Most of the prisoners in the past year were subjected to deliberate starvation and exposure to illness,” she said. “Their bodies are frail, and they’ve suffered from beatings. But today gives us hope that there will always be an inevitable freedom, no matter the circumstances.”
The exchange marks phase one of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan, designed to end the war in Gaza that began after Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 — assaults that killed about 1,200 people and led to 251 hostages being taken.
Israel’s subsequent military offensive left more than 67,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, and devastated much of the territory.
A ceasefire that began on Friday has largely held, setting the stage for negotiations on the next phases of the Trump plan.
For many Palestinians, however, the moment was less about politics and more about family — about the long-awaited return of loved ones after years behind bars.
“Despite everything, freedom has a taste,” said a tearful mother in Khan Younis, clutching her son’s hand. “Even after all this pain, we still believe in tomorrow.”
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