Khan Younis, Gaza – Since 8am, 32-year-old Abu Yusuf* has been standing in a crowd near the rubble of the former home of Yahya Sinwar, the slain Hamas political and military leader, in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis. With his four-year-old son perched on his shoulders, he has been waiting to catch a glimpse of the two Israeli captives set to be released.
Around Abu Yusuf, thousands of people have gathered amid a sea of green Hamas flags and the black banners of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. There were also portraits of Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader killed by Israel, images of Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, the leader of Yemen’s Houthis, and Fathi Shaqaqi, the late founder of the Islamic Jihad.
“I’m proud to see these prisoners released in exchange for countless Palestinians who have remained in Israeli prisons for decades,” said Abu Yusuf.
The releases are part of a high-stakes ceasefire agreement aimed at ending months of war that began on October 7, 2023, after Hamas fighters launched a deadly attack on Israel. Under the deal that took effect on January 19, Hamas is set to release 33 Israeli captives over a six-week period. In return, up to 1,650 Palestinian prisoners could be freed from Israeli jails.
Thursday’s exchange, the third since the ceasefire began, started with Hamas releasing 20-year-old soldier Agam Berger in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, followed by the release of civilians Arbel Yehud and Gadi Moses in addition to five Thai nationals in Khan Younis in a handover overseen by Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, al-Quds Brigades.
Later in the day, Israeli authorities released 110 Palestinian prisoners, including 32 serving life sentences and 30 minors.
Abu Yusuf said that he had walked more than five kilometres (three miles) from his village to arrive early, and waited for more than four hours to witness the release of the captives.
He says their release in exchange for Palestinian prisoners makes him feel that what he lost in the war was not in vain. “These scenes,” he said, “help ease the pain of losing my two-story home and relatives to Israeli air strikes.”
As armoured pick-up trucks rolled by carrying fighters clad in combat gear and black balaclavas, Abu Yusuf gestured towards them with pride.
“The resistance fighters are still here, alive, and capable of striking back,” he said. “This whole exchange is a reminder that the occupation has failed to break us.”
‘People’s steadfastness’
Along Khan Younis’s crowded Fifth Street where the handover took place and where Sinwar’s home stood, people waved banners as they came to witness what many in the crowd saw as “a symbolic victory”.
Two women waved handwritten signs thanking Iran, Hezbollah, and the Houthis for their support. One of them, Yasmin*, 28, clutched a banner reading, “To all who stood with us, our victory is yours.”
“We’re here to thank every nation that backed our resistance, especially Iran, [Lebanon’s] Hezbollah, and Yemen,” she said. “But our people’s steadfastness brought us here.”
Dozens of protesters clambered onto the remains of flattened homes to witness the handover.
The two-hour delay did little to dampen the crowd’s fervour as people filmed on smartphones and chanted celebratory slogans.
The two Israeli captives, flanked by masked al-Quds Brigades fighters, were heavily guarded as they were moved through the crowd and towards representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Bystanders surged forward to take photos and young men close to the captives jeered as they were led away.
Mohammed*, 22, his voice edged with sarcasm, called out, “Arbel, you’ve caused us so much trouble,” referring to the controversy over Arbel Yehud’s release, which led to a tense standoff between negotiators and frustration among Palestinians.
Israel said Yehud should have been released last Saturday, and after she was not, accused Hamas of violating the agreement and then barred Palestinians from returning to their homes in the north. An agreement was later reached, paving the way for thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.
“Go back to your family. We’re better off without you!” he shouted.
‘The price we paid’
Among the onlookers, people described feeling elation and sorrow following a war that has killed at least 47,035 Palestinians and wounded 111,091.
Cries of “Allah Akbar!”, a phrase often heard during Eid celebrations, rang through the streets, the sounds of jubilation at odds with the destruction all around. Khan Younis’s homes lie in ruins, the farmland has been stripped bare by bulldozers and the remaining olive trees are charred husks.
Abdul Qadir*, a 63-year-old with a white beard and wire-framed glasses, stood off to the side, watching in silence.
“We shouldn’t be seeking strife with any Arab nation or the international community,” he told Al Jazeera.
Gesturing at the ruins around him, he said, “The credit goes to the Palestinians,” who have withstood more than 15 months of relentless shelling, surviving “a genocide”.
“Our resilience forced the world to see us. We endured the bombs, the sieges, the loss. But what remains?” he asked. “Look at this destruction: our homes, our farms. This is the price we paid.”
This article was published in collaboration with Egab.
*All interviewees asked that their last names be withheld due to security concerns.
