Families of Palestinian prisoners cautiously hopeful ahead of Gaza deal

While mediators in Qatar close in on a Gaza ceasefire deal that would include the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, the families of those held in Israeli jails are cautiously optimistic.

"We are hopeful, but we watch with caution, fear and anxiety," the relative of a Palestinian imprisoned in an Israeli jail told AFP anonymously, for fear of negatively affecting any potential release.

Qatar said on Tuesday that the negotiations which it is mediating alongside Egypt and the United States were in their "final stages" after more than 15 months of war between the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Israel.

Wafaa Ghalmi, whose husband Ahed Ghalmi is serving a life sentence plus five years, told AFP: "What matters most to me personally about this deal right now is the ceasefire for the sake of Gaza's families."

"The prisoner exchange will naturally follow as part of the ceasefire agreement."

Her 57-year-old husband is accused of leading a Palestinian cell responsible for assassinating then-Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi in 2001.

Ghalmi said that her daughter Rita, who was born while her husband was in prison, has never met her father.

"If he is released as part of the deal, it will be the first time Rita sits with her father."

"As a family," she added, "it's only natural that we would be happy."

 Thousands of detainees  

There are currently 10,400 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club. Among them are 600 who are serving life or indefinite sentences.

Before the war began, around 5,000 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons. This number has more than doubled since the war in the Gaza Strip started on October 7, 2023.

Aqsa Mohammed, a 20-year-old from a village near the Palestinian city of Ramallah, was eagerly awaiting news of the swap, hoping to see her father again.

Freed after years in jail, shortly before the war began, he was arrested again soon after.

"We barely had time with my father after his first release," Aqsa said.

"I pray to God that he will be included in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement."

 In Gilad Shalit's shadow 

 "The Palestinian Prisoners Club receives constant calls from families asking whether their loved ones are included in the upcoming deal," said Amani Sarahneh, spokeswoman for the club.

The details of the swap are reminiscent of the most famous prisoner exchange in Israel, when in 2011 Hamas exchanged Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel later re-arrested approximately 40 of those freed. They are expected to be included again in the new deal.

Many families, for whom such exchanges are the only chance of seeing relatives released, were disappointed during the Shalit exchange when their relatives were not on the list.

Even Faaida Barghouti, the wife of the prisoner serving the longest sentence in Israeli history, told AFP she dared to hope for his release, though declined to give more information.

Her husband Abdallah Barghouti is serving 67 life sentences plus 5,200 years for his involvement in several bombings that killed a total of 67 people.

 No official list  

Lists of potential releases have circulated on social media, but Palestinian authorities said they had not received any official inventory of names. This prompted Abdullah Al-Zughari, head of the Prisoners Club, to urge families to "disregard these lists".

Hamas appears to be addressing this issue by involving other Palestinian factions in finalising the agreement, with their representatives in Doha alongside the head of the Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Authority.

Among the Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, around 3,376 are held under administrative detention, a controversial practice which allows for indefinite detention without formal charges. Detentions typically start at three months but can be extended for years.

The detainee population also includes 340 children and 84 women.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Authority and the Prisoners Club, hundreds of Gazans were arrested in that manner following the war on Gaza, though the exact figure is unclear.

The Prisoners Club estimated it to be around 1,886 detainees.