Released Palestinian women, children describe abuses by Israel

After a long wait at the point closest to Ofer Prison, west of Ramallah, families of released Palestinian prisoners related to the first batch of the ceasefire deal welcomed back their loved ones. 

The exchange occurred once Hamas handed over three Israeli female captives Sunday morning under the ceasefire deal, and in turn, Israel released about 90 Palestinians, including 21 children and 69 women, most of whom were held without charge. 

The second batch is expected to occur next Saturday, with Hamas releasing four Israeli female soldiers and Israel will release 200 Palestinian prisoners who were sentenced to life.

Although it was agreed that Israel would immediately release the female prisoners and children on Sunday evening, it used examination and inspection procedures as an excuse to delay their release until the evening.

Moreover, the Israeli army prevented their families from approaching the vicinity of Ofer prison and fired tear gas at them, suffocating some of the people there.

But that didn’t prevent them from gathering in the nearest place in anticipation of receiving their children who had emerged from the “prison graves,” as some described it.

Anticipation and joy

At dawn on Monday, Israel released the women and children, and celebrations immediately spread throughout Ramallah, with pictures of Hamas leaders being raised and cheering for them.

The family of journalist Rula Hassanein welcomed her with much emotion. She was arrested last March and sentenced to a full year in prison on charges of incitement, leaving behind her infant daughter, who was born prematurely and needed constant care.

After her release, Rula was transferred to the hospital because she suffers from chronic kidney disease and didn’t receive any medical treatment inside the Israeli prison.

She described to The New Arab the cruelty of prison and the humiliating Israeli procedures for the prisoners, in which she and others were deprived of food, clothing, humane treatment, and other minimum humanitarian necessities.

“I was very worried about my child, whom I left while she needed to be breastfed, and when she was less than a year old. I used to hug my pillow every night and imagine it as my child, and I fell asleep from crying,” Rula said.

Her family were shocked by her weight loss, the paleness of her face, and the tired features that appeared on her, which reflects the reality of the prison she was living in.

Nidaa Salah from Jenin told TNA that all the female prisoners were subjected to abuse, beatings and humiliation before their release.

“They beat us while transporting us from Damoun prison, pulled our hair, threw us to the ground, and did not allow us to help each other get up. We were subjected to a humiliating search and procrastination for long hours, during which we were left in the cold inside the cells,” she said.

But the joy of meeting their families offered some respite, and the faces of many of those released began to shine with happiness as soon as they met their loved ones.

“If it were not for the steadfastness of the people of Gaza, we would not have met our families. If it were not for their patience, we would not have got out of prison. We owe them all our lives,” Salah remarked.

The Israeli army continued its arbitrary measures even after the release, as it set up military checkpoints and closed iron gates at the entrances to villages and towns in the occupied West Bank, preventing the return of prisoners and their families to their cities and towns until the morning.

A ‘long-awaited’ release

Iman Nafi counts hours and even minutes in anticipation of the release of her husband, the oldest Palestinian prisoner, Nael Barghouti, 67, after a detention that lasted more than 45 years.

This long-awaited deal holds many hopes for the families of Palestinian prisoners whom Israel has previously been stubborn about releasing.

In the first phase of the ceasefire deal, Israel is required to release all Palestinian women and children, including prisoners re-arrested after their liberation in the Shalit deal, and more than 200 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, in exchange for 33 Israeli prisoners.

In their home in the village of Kober, north of Ramallah, Iman Nafi is trying to make the simplest preparations for fear of any Israeli backtracking at the last minute in releasing her husband.

Nael was arrested for the first time in 1977 for three months, then re-arrested in 1978 to be sentenced to life imprisonment. He was released in exchange for the Israeli soldier captured by Hamas, Gilad Shalit, in 2011 with 1,057 other Palestinian prisoners.

In the summer of 2014, Nael was re-arrested with dozens of prisoners who were released in the Shalit deal, and their life sentences were restored after Hamas captured and killed three illegal Israeli settlers in Hebron.

Nafi said to TNA that he and dozens of prisoners from the Shalit deal are “hostages in Israeli prisons”, further expressing her fears of new Israeli violations because “it has been proven that it does not care about international laws and mediators”.

“I have not seen Nael for two years, and due to the current prison circumstances, his health condition is deteriorating. We are concerned about their fate and at the same time we await their release with new hope,” she told TNA. 

Nafi believes that the price of releasing her husband was very high, especially the lives of tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and their horrible suffering for 15 months of an active genocide. 

“The release of prisoners brings joy for their families, but our happiness remains incomplete due to the crime of genocide committed by Israel on Gaza,” she concluded.