Palestinian mother in her 70s reunites with her three sons

Since learning about the release of three of her sons from Israeli prisons, Latifa Abou Hamid has been filled with an "indescribable joy." Even though they have been forced into exile, like dozens of other ex-detainees released on Saturday, until this day, five of the 10 children of this resident of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, were detained by Israel.

Three have just been freed as part of a new exchange, outlined by the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas, in exchange for four female soldiers held in the Gaza Strip since the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Oct. 7, 2023, and 200 Palestinian prisoners. "I am so happy, I spoke with them. They were in the Negev, I heard their voice," says Abou Hamid, 74 years old.

Nasr, 50, Sharif, 45, and Mohammed, 35, were released from Kziot prison in this desert in southern Israel. But like 70 other released detainees, they have been banned by Israel. Some had indicated plans to settle in Qatar. Meanwhile, they have been handed over to Egypt.

"Of course, I would prefer they live with us, that they are here so we can enjoy them here. But thank God, [their exile] won't be forever," hopes their mother.

'Never lost hope'

Her living room resembles a museum, adorned with large painted portraits of each family member and photomontages where Abou Hamid, known as Oum Nasser, flashes a 'V' for victory among her sons. Detention certificates are displayed like diplomas. She herself wears a dress emblazoned with her sons' faces next to a view of the Dome of the Rock, the iconic mosque in Jerusalem.

"It has been more than 40 years since I’ve been visiting my sons in prison, more than half of my life and I've never lost hope" of seeing them free, she affirms, despite their life sentences. With the same sentence, another of her sons, Islam, 38, is not on the list of prisoners eligible for release by Israel as part of the truce agreement.

According to his mother, he killed an Israeli soldier with a stone during an army raid in the Palestinian refugee camp of al-Amari, near Ramallah, where the family lived at the time. The eldest, Nasser, was one of the founders of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an armed group created during the Second Intifada (2000-2005). He died of cancer in detention, and Israel never returned his body. Another family member, affiliated with Islamic Jihad, was killed by the Israeli army in 1994.

'Rest and stability'

Oum Nasser recounts that her house in al-Amari was destroyed by the army, under a policy of reprisals targeting the families of Palestinians responsible for deadly attacks on Israelis, regularly condemned by the U.N. and human rights organizations. "We have gone through extremely difficult days," sums up her daughter-in-law Alaa Abou Hamid, Nasr's wife. "The moment has finally come to find rest and regain family stability."

Her mother-in-law notes that three of her grandchildren will not be present for the large family gathering organized in honor of the releases. They too are in detention. It is not uncommon for Palestinian families to have multiple detainees. Especially since Oct. 7, thousands have been arrested by Israel in the occupied West Bank, bringing the total number of Palestinian detainees to over 10,000, according to defending organizations.

The first phase of the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas provides for the release in six weeks of about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, including more than 230 sentenced to life in prison, in exchange for 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza. After the release of three of her sons, Oum Nasser cannot "fully savor" her happiness, "knowing that there are still others behind bars."

"And even if Islam is also released, I will not be happy until all are freed," she says.