Released Palestinian prisoners: Stories of joy and defiance

After being imprisoned for years in the Israeli occupation’s jails, released Palestinian women and minors have been reunited with their families in a festive and emotional atmosphere. 

This came after a four-day truce between the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and the Israeli occupation. The latter pledged to release 150 Palestinian prisoners out of its 8,000 detainees, and Hamas promised to release at least 50 of the roughly 240 captives taken on October 7, according to Al Ahram Online. 

Behind every prisoner released, there is a story of struggle, resistance, patience, pain, and finally joy. They are stories that teach the whole world how persistent and strong the Palestinian people are. 

Nourhan Awad: Talent born from the womb of suffering 

Nourhan Awad, who grew up in the Qalandia camp, was arrested when she was a tenth-grade student and was released when at the age of 24.

According to Al Arabiya, the Israeli occupation shot and arrested Awad on November 23, 2015, in a street in Jerusalem while she was heading to pray. She moved between several Israeli prisons until she ended up in Damon Prison.

The Palestinian girl was charged with carrying out an attack on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem, and an Israeli court sentenced her to 13 and a half years in prison and a fine of 30,000 shekels.

Awad obtained her high school diploma while in prison and then enrolled in the Faculty of History at Al-Quds Open University. 

According to the Institute for Palestine Studies, Nourhan Awad has “a very unique talent, as she is well-versed in decoding speech by reading lips,” noting that she is also “proficient in handicrafts.”

Falastin Farid:  A name representing determination and strength

From Nablus, the released prisoner Falastin Farid Najm was among the first batch of the exchange deal after having been arrested and imprisoned four times in the occupation prisons. Falastin, the Arabic equivalent for Palestine, was released after a bitter experience in the occupation prisons that stole nine and a half years of her life, Al Masry Al Youm reported. 

Falastin was detained four times, the last of which was her detention for about 15 months. She prevented her family from celebrating out of respect for those being lost in the genocide that Gaza is witnessing. 

She pointed out that the occupation had intensified its violations against female prisoners in Damon Prison in Haifa since October 7. They blocked all means of following up on what was happening in Gaza, took away electrical appliances and the radio, and prevented them from visiting or receiving phone calls. Even going to the bathroom was under strict guard.

“The joy of this country will not be complete until the occupation withdraws from our lands, from the river to the sea,” she told Al Masry Al Youm. 

​

Shorouk Dwayyat: Years of patience and yearning to learn 

After eight years, Shorouk Dwayyat, who was facing a 16-year prison sentence at the time of her arrest, was finally released. She said that she entered the prison wounded by three bullets after being shot by a settler, according to Asharq News. 

Born in Sur Baher in the city of Jerusalem, Dwayyat said that she was treated after her arrest in the hospital for only three days and then was taken afterwards to prison with no consideration for her injury and with no respect for her privacy. They only gave her painkillers, she told Asharq News. 

Dwayyat’s family used to visit her without her brother, who was deprived from seeing her for eight years under the pretext that he was a former security prisoner, even though this was years ago. She said that her journey would have been impossible without the support of her family.

After spending her years in prison studying, Dwayyat succeeded in obtaining her bachelor’s degree. She stressed that she plans to continue her educational journey and will not stop. 

She stated that the prison authorities carried out a “systematic and ferocious attack” on female detainees following the October 7 attack.