{"id":305144,"date":"2025-10-20T12:01:39","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T11:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=305144"},"modified":"2025-10-18T07:29:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T06:29:48","slug":"palestinians-freed-from-israeli-prisons-denied-reunion-with-families-deported-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/10\/palestinians-freed-from-israeli-prisons-denied-reunion-with-families-deported-instead\/","title":{"rendered":"Palestinians Freed from Israeli Prisons Denied Reunion with Families, Deported Instead"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Palestinians released by Israel under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement arrive at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis for medical check-ups, 13 Oct 2025.
(Photo: Omar Ashtawy\/APA Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/em>As Trump Claims a \u2018Forever\u2019 Peace: Palestinians gathered in the West Bank to reunite with loved ones set to be released as part of the prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas. But many were devastated to learn that Israel had deported them. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

13 Oct 2025\u00a0<\/em>–\u00a0Palestinians in Gaza lived another day without bombs dropping over their heads as the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continued into Monday, which saw the release of Israeli captives from Gaza and the release of 1,718 out of 10,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.<\/p>\n

At around 8:00 a.m. local time, Hamas\u2019s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, handed the first group of seven Israeli captives to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza, without any ceremonies or media exposure. The second group of 13 Israeli captives came an hour later. Meanwhile, the Israeli prison services moved hundreds of Palestinians out of its detention centers.<\/p>\n

In the decimated city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, thousands of Palestinians gathered to receive the hundreds of Palestinians released from Israeli prison, including 25 West Bank Palestinians whom the Israeli internal intelligence service, the Shabak (Shin Bet), recommended to be deported to Gaza.<\/p>\n

A total of 1,718 Palestinians were released into the Gaza Strip, all of whom were abducted by Israeli forces from within Gaza during the past two years. In addition, Israel released 250 Palestinians who had been serving high or life sentences in Israeli prisons, 88 of whom were released in the West Bank, while the rest were deported to Gaza and Egypt.<\/p>\n

\"Palestinians
Palestinians released by Israel under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement arrive at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis for medical check-ups, October 13, 2025.
\n(Photo: Omar Ashtawy\/APA Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the town of Beitunia, adjacent to Ramallah, dozens of Palestinians gathered in expectation of the released prisoners, who were announced to be released from Israel\u2019s Ofer detention center just outside of the town. Israeli drones flew over the gathering, dropping leaflets that read \u201cwe are watching you everywhere. If you show any support for a terrorist group, you will expose yourself to arrest and punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n

At around 11:00 a.m., two Red Cross-marked buses drove through Beitunia as Palestinians waved at the released prisoners along the way, in decidedly smaller numbers than the crowds that had received released prisoners during the previous January-March ceasefire.<\/p>\n

\"israeli
Israeli drones drop leaflets that read \u201cwe are watching you everywhere\u201d above crowds of Palestinians waiting to receive released Palestinian political prisoners during the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, October 13, 2025.
\n(Photo: Qassam Muaddi\/Mondoweiss)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the Ramallah Cultural Palace, prisoners\u2019 families and crowds of Palestinians gathered to receive the released prisoners. In the crowds, the family of a prisoner, Murad Abu al-Rub, 45, including two of his sisters, his cousin, and his paralyzed mother, stood on a sidewalk trying with difficulty to get a glimpse of the Red Cross buses as they arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has been in jail for 19 years with a life sentence, and the last time we visited him was before October 2023,\u201d the cousin told Mondoweiss<\/em>. \u201cFor more than two years, we haven\u2019t seen him, and the news we have had about him through lawyers is very limited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHis father and one of his brothers died during his time in jail,\u201d the cousin explained. \u201cAnd his mother suffered a stroke last year that left her unable to move or speak. But we brought her because she has been very anxious to see him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Palestinians
Palestinians released by Israel from Ofer Prison arrive in Ramallah as part of the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, October 13, 2025.
\n(Photo: Qassam Muaddi\/Mondoweiss)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The family left Jenin in the northern West Bank at 6 a.m. to avoid the Israeli army\u2019s expected road closures, as it did during the previous ceasefire. \u201cThe Israeli Shabak came to our house yesterday and warned us not to show any signs of celebration, and they told us that Murad will be released here.\u201d<\/p>\n

After all the prisoners left the bus, the family discovered that Murad wasn\u2019t among them. Minutes later, they received confirmation from the Red Cross that he had been deported to Egypt.<\/p>\n

As the cousin shared the news, the elderly mother broke into tears and random screams in her wheelchair. As her daughters helped her into the car, one of them tried to console her. \u201cHe went to Egypt to study! He\u2019ll be back later,\u201d she said. The mother moved her hand in an apparent refusal to hear, continuing to weep.<\/p>\n

\"The
The disabled mother of Murad Abu al-Rub, a released Palestinian political prisoner who was deported to Egypt as part of the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, October 13, 2025. (Photo: Qassam Muaddi\/Mondoweiss)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meters away, the older brother of Abdallah Barham, 40, one of the prisoners set to be released, had just learned that he, too, had been deported. The brother was in Ramallah by 7 a.m. to wait for Abdallah, who had served 18 years of his life sentence in Israeli prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe family and the entire village are waiting in Kufr Qadoum to celebrate his release,\u201d he explained. \u201cAnd the Shabak came yesterday and warned us not to celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur younger brother and our mother died during his period of imprisonment,\u201d he continued. \u201cAnd our father has been waiting for this day for the past 18 years. The feeling is tragic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least he is free now. Thank God,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Inside the cultural palace building, groups of people gathered around the released prisoners, listening to their stories. One of them, Lutfi Rashdan, who had been detained without trial for a year, showed his broken glasses held together with duct tape. \u201cI asked the prison services to let me change my glasses for a year, but they ignored me,\u201d he told the small crowd.<\/p>\n

\"Lutfi
Lutfi Rashdan, a Palestinian political prisoner released by Israel from Ofer Prison, arrives in Ramallah as part of the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, October 13, 2025. (Photo: Qassam Muaddi\/Mondoweiss)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the other side of the hall, Allam al-Ra\u2019i, who has been in prison serving a life sentence since 2006, struggled to speak, his voice low and barely audible. His short, white hair and his features gave the impression that he was in his sixties. He is only 47.<\/p>\n

At the end of the prisoner exchange, between 9,000 and 10,000 Palestinians will remain behind bars, including around 5,000 Palestinians who are being held without charge or trial, and without clear release dates, under Israel\u2019s system of \u201cadministrative detention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palestinian political leaders held in Israeli prison were excluded from Monday\u2019s swap, after a protracted and drawn-out negotiations process and Israeli intransigence. The most notable among the prisoners are popular Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi and PFLP Secretary General Ahmad Sa\u2019dat, both of whom have been unable to participate in Palestinian politics due to their imprisonment. Both leaders are known for their widespread popular support and stances in favor of Palestinian national unity.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Allam al-Ra\u2019i, 47, released by Israel from Ofer Prison, arrives in Ramallah as part of the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, October 13, 2025.
\n(Photo: Qassam Muaddi\/Mondoweiss)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Donald Trump speaks before the Knesset, Sharm al-Sheikh summit<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The prisoner exchange took place as U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Tel Aviv, where he was received by Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife at the airport. Trump headed to occupied Jerusalem to deliver a speech at the Israeli Knesset ahead of his flight to Egypt, where he is expected to preside over a conference with some 20 state leaders to officially announce his \u201cpeace\u201d plan to definitively end the Israeli war on Gaza.<\/p>\n

In his speech, Trump said it was a \u201chistoric dawn of a new Middle East\u201d and the beginning of a \u201cgrand concord and lasting harmony for Israel.\u201d Trump praised Netanyahu, whom he called \u201chard to deal with.\u201d The U.S. President also lauded special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, whom he said was \u201ccalled in\u201d to draft the plan for the end of the war, all with a wave of applause by the Knesset members. Trump also thanked the Arab and Muslim countries that participated in his plan for the end of the war, which did not receive any applause from the Knesset.<\/p>\n

During Trump\u2019s speech, Palestinian Knesset member Ayman Odeh and left-wing anti-Zionist Knesset member Ofer Kasif raised signs calling for the recognition of Palestine as a state, and were forcibly removed from the hall. Trump commented on their removal by saying, \u201cThat was very efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. President also said that Israel had \u201cwon what could be won by force of arms,\u201d and that it should translate victories \u201con the battlefield\u201d into \u201cpeace and prosperity for the entire Middle East.\u201d He added that the focus of Palestinians in Gaza should be on \u201crestoring the fundamentals of stability, safety, dignity, and economic development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump also touched on the issue of Iran, asserting that the Iranians \u201cwant a deal\u201d and adding that \u201cwe\u2019re going to see if we can do something.\u201d Towards the end of his speech, Trump said he wished that Israel\u2019s President, Isaac Herzog, would pardon Netanyahu for his charges of fraud and bribery.<\/p>\n

Trump ended his visit to Israel after four hours, considered one of the shortest U.S. Presidential visits to Israel. At Egypt\u2019s Sharm al-Sheikh, Trump presided over the signing ceremony of the Gaza ceasefire deal, along with the leaders of the mediating countries, Egypt and Qatar. At the moment the deal was signed, Trump commented, \u201cIt took three thousand years to get to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Egypt\u2019s president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, thanked Trump for his efforts to end the war, noting that \u201creal leadership is not in waging wars, but in the capacity to end them.\u201d Al-Sisi added that the signed deal should open the pathway for a two-state solution and that Palestinians, \u201clike all peoples who have their own state, are no exception.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Palestinian Authority (PA) was represented by Mahmoud Abbas, the PA president, who had not received an invitation to join the summit until Sunday. Although present at the ceremony, the PA is not a signatory to the deal, and its potential role in governing the Gaza Strip after the war remains uncertain.<\/p>\n

Israel and Hamas still have to negotiate terms for the definitive end to the war based on Trump\u2019s plan. This includes the body meant to rule over the Strip, which Hamas and Palestinian factions insist must be an independent Palestinian body of technocrats. In contrast, Trump\u2019s plan would include a \u201cboard of peace\u201d headed by Trump himself that would be in charge of running Gaza.<\/p>\n

Another point to be negotiated is the disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian resistance factions. Palestinian factions, including Hamas, insist that they would lay down their arms upon the establishment of a Palestinian state, while Trump\u2019s plan would see the resistance movement\u2019s disarmament and makes no mention of Palestinian statehood.<\/p>\n

___________________________________________<\/p>\n

Qassam Muaddi is the Palestine Staff Writer for <\/em>Mondoweiss.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original – mondoweiss.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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