In West Bank, Cheers and Worries After Prisoners Are Released

It was the moment the crowd outside the gates of Ofer prison just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah had awaited for hours: A large white bus carrying Palestinian prisoners and detainees exited the prison gates and made its way through the crowd around 8 p.m. Friday.

Throngs of Palestinians erupted in cheers while drivers revved their engines in celebration. Fireworks erupted, replacing the sounds of tear-gas canisters that Israeli security forces had fired to disperse the crowd throughout the afternoon. One man climbed on top of the bus and hoisted two Hamas flags, while those around him praised the group they saw as responsible for the release of their loved ones and neighbors.

“The people want Hamas! The people want Hamas!” They cried.

For hours on Friday afternoon into the early evening, hundreds of Palestinians had waited outside Ofer for the first group of Palestinian prisoners and detainees to be released as part of an exchange laid out in a deal between Israel and Hamas for a temporary cease-fire in Gaza.

The hours of anticipation had been tinged both with grief for the devastation wrought by the war in Gaza, and with elation for a moment that many saw as a small victory for Palestinians — one that many in the crowd attributed to Hamas.

As the prisoners and detainees made their way to a nearby municipality building, hundreds of people raced alongside them, waving Palestinian and Hamas flags.

Hanan Saleh al-Bargouthi, 59, who was among those released, hugged her husband and grandchildren as tears clouded her eyes. She had spent around 80 days in prison, she said. According to the Israeli authorities, her case was being tried in military court on state security charges. But now, reunited with her family, a sense of relief and defiance washed over her.