The Gaza Strip and West Bank gave a jubilant welcome Tuesday, October 18, to hundreds of Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails in exchange for the release of a captured Israeli soldier.
“I think the deal represents something great for the Palestinian people,” Hamas deputy leader in exile Moussa Abu Marzouk told Reuters as he greed prisoners arriving in Egypt from Israel.
“Those who are still in jail are happy for those who have been released.”
Some 450 Palestinian prisoners were freed from Israeli jails on Tuesday as part of a swap deal to free captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
A further 550 prisoners will be released two months later as part of the swap deal.
The release of Palestinian prisoners has sent hundreds of jubilant Palestinians into the streets of Gaza and the West Bank in celebration.
Fire-crackers, klaxons and cheering carloads of flag-waving young men raised the noise level steadily in Gaza City.
Thousands of jubilant Gazans converged on a central square for a mass rally around a stage backed by a mural bearing portraits of top fighters who were not released, with the words: “We will not forget you.”
The web of electricity cables slung over Gaza’s main streets was decorated with the green flags of Hamas.
The streets were full of men in pick-ups, convertibles and rickshaw trucks waving the brightly-colored banners of Gaza’s resistance factions.
Gaza declared a national holiday and schools were closed.
In Ramallah, thousands packed into the headquarters of the Palestinian presidency to greet prisoners released into the West Bank.
President Mahmoud Abbas and Hassan Youssef, a senior member of the Hamas group, both delivered speeches in a rare show of national unity.
Thank You Resistance
Patriotic songs blared from loudspeakers as prisoners arrived to a heroes’ welcome at the Rafah crossing.
“Thank you to the forces of the resistance for returning us as liberated heroes,” said one prisoner.
Some freed prisoners kissed the soil as they arrived.
Some were carried on the shoulders of happy relatives. Women ululated and men chanted Allahu akbar (God is greatest).
Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh joined scores of officials to greet freed prisoners coming in from Egypt, along with hundreds of family members impatient for the big reunion.
Haniyeh kissed their foreheads, paying special respect to Yehya Al-Sinwar, a top Hamas security strategist who spent 23 years in jail, and his deputy Rawhi Mushtaha who was also serving a life sentence.
Hamas, whose fighters seized Shalit in a border raid in 2006, has declared the prisoner exchange a victory over Israel and a vindication of its policy of armed resistance.
In the West Bank, hundreds of Palestinians waving flags of Palestinian parties including Hamas and the Fatah movement led by Abbas gathered at a crossing where they expected Israel to set the prisoners free.
They danced, sang and played national songs all morning.
Source: OnIslam