Joy, tears as Israelis, Palestinians reunite families after swap
TEL AVIV
Thousands of Palestinians have erupted with joy in Gaza and the occupied West Bank after reuniting freed prisoners, with freed Israeli hostages hugging loved ones in tears of joy.
Hamas on Oct. 13 released all remaining 20 alive hostages and the bodies of the four deceased ones. Israel also freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners under a peace plan proposed by the U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Israeli hostages and their family and friends bounded into one another's arms, beaming and crying with joy at the end of the captives' two-year ordeal in Gaza.
Wrapped in blue and white Israeli flags, those returning waved and smiled as military helicopters landed them back in Israel.
Videos filmed and released by the Israeli military captured some of the raw emotion of the reunions.
"My life, you are my life... you are a hero," cried Einav Zangauker as she embraced her smiling son Matan, in one video.
"Love of your mother, bless you, bless you, my dear."
Eitan Mor's father wailed in relief as he and the young man's mother squeezed him tight, the footage showed.
In nearby Tel Aviv, hundreds of people erupted in joy, tears and song on Tel Aviv's Hostages Square Monday as news of the releases broke.
Many had come at sunrise, carrying pictures of the hostages and waving Israeli flags bearing a yellow ribbon, a symbol of the movement calling for their release.
"It's so exciting and overwhelming that it's finally happening," said Shelly Bar Nir, 34.
Meanwhile, cheers erupted among Palestinians in the in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
Some climbed the sides of the slowly-moving buses as they weaved their way through the dense crowds gathered at Nasser Hospital, to hug or kiss a loved one they recognized.
"The greatest joy is seeing my whole family gathered to welcome me," Yusef Afana, a 25-year-old released prisoner from north Gaza, told AFP.
"I spent 10 months in prison, some of the hardest days I've ever lived. The pain in prison isn't only physical; it's pain in the soul," he said, adding, like many of his comrades, that he hoped for all other prisoners in Israeli jails to be released soon.
At Nasser Hospital, men in military fatigues and black balaclavas struggled to keep order as the prisoners wearing the Israel Prison Service's grey jumpsuits came off the buses.
Patriotic music blared on speakers, while Palestinian flags flew alongside those of Hamas or the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Shadi Abu Sidu, a 32-year-old from Gaza City's Rimal neighborhood, alleged that he and other prisoners were mistreated in jail.
"Even right before our release, they continued to mistreat and humiliate us," he told AFP.
"But now, we hope to erase those painful memories and begin life anew."
In the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah too, a large crowd had gathered to greet another group of roughly 100 prisoners released under the deal.
