Palestinians celebrated on Monday as Israel began releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinians from prison in exchange for Hamas’s freeing of Israeli hostages under a breakthrough ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Hundreds cheered as two buses carrying dozens of released prisoners arrived in Beitunia in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The freed men, with their heads’ shaved, descended from the bus, flashing V-for-victory signs; some were lifted up onto the shoulders of the crowd, while others sunk into chairs nearby exhausted.
“It was an indescribable journey of suffering — hunger, unfair treatment, oppression, torture and curses — more than anything you could imagine,” said Kamal Abu Shanab, a 51-year-old Fatah member from the West Bank town of Tulkarem.
His face gaunt, he said he lost 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.
A profound moment
The releases have powerful resonance on both sides.
For Israelis, they’re deeply painful, since some of those being release have been convicted over attacks that killed civilians and soldiers. For Palestinians, the issue of prisoners is among the most politically charged, with nearly every Palestinian having a friend or family member who has been jailed by Israel, particularly young men.
While Israel views them as terrorists, many Palestinians consider the prisoners as freedom fighters resisting a decades-long Israeli military occupation.
In previous exchanges, both sides have sought to tightly manage the releases — including the images, clothing and ceremonies — because of their political sensitivity.
The 2,000 include some 1,700 of the several thousand Palestinians that Israeli troops seized from Gaza during the 2-year war and have held without charge.
Those slated for release also include 250 Palestinians sentenced to prison terms, most of them convicted of murder and terrorism in deadly attacks on Israelis dating back decades as well as others convicted on lesser charges, according to Israel’s Justice Ministry. The longest serving among them has been imprisoned for nearly 40 years. (AP)
Released Palestinian prisoners eagerly search for, and reunite with, their families upon arrival in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank pic.twitter.com/Mmf9cFeest
— TRT World (@trtworld) October 13, 2025
