It was a cold Wednesday evening when Nevin Abu Sahloul, 39, was waiting impatiently for the news of her son Muhammad. The 17-year-old had been missing since the beginning of last year, and Abu Sahloul had died in the middle of a raging war in Gaza.
When she slowly moved through the crowd, she and her sister, Nidaa Abu Sahloul, remained close together and tried to find someone who may have information.
Hundreds of people were in the European hospital in southern Gaza and waited whether their relatives would belong to the 620 Palestinians, who were approved in the recent exchange of hostages and prisoners in the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
“The feeling is indescribable when we found out that he was alive. Incredible,” Abu Sahloul told CBC News Freelance Video Video Mohamed El Safe. “I couldn’t imagine that Muhammad was alive and is now being released.”
The latest exchange is the end of the first phase of the ceasefire, in which 33 Israeli hostages, including eight corpses, were released for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and prisoners.
Israel sent on Thursday Negotiators who can meet in Cairo Discussion of the expansion of the initial phase. In an answer on Friday, Hamas confirmed “its full obligation to implement all conditions of the agreement in all phases and details” in a contribution to the messaging service Telegram.
Waiting for the son’s release demands a tribute
The ceasefire agreement was achieved after more than 15 months of war war, which began on October 7, 2023 with an attack on Israel led by Hamas, in which around 1,200 Israelis were killed and, according to Israeli figures, about 250 people in Gaza were taken hostage. According to the Gaza’s Ministry of Health, the subsequent military offensive of Israel killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children.
Muhammad was to be released on February 22nd together with more than 40 other minors, but Israel was delayed, which complained that the manner, as Hamas published hostages, was “humiliating. “
The ceasefire began on January 19, and in the past few weeks, Israeli hostages have been exhibited on stages, which were set up in different districts in the Gaza Strip, and made it to move crowds before they were handed over to officials of the Red Cross.
When El Safe spoke to Abu Sahloul, the mother had just started what would be in the hospital without success overnight.
At around 5 a.m. on Wednesday, she was informed that the bus would not arrive her son and other prisoners until noon. Tired and overwhelmed she collapsed on her knees when her sister tried to comfort her.
Hours later, a bus went to the European hospital in Khan Younis. From a distance, the passengers looked identical, with shaved heads and gray welding devices.
The 17 -year -old Muhammad Abu Sahloul is one of hundreds of Palestinians who are released as part of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the recent exchange of hostages and prisoners.
Some held out of open windows and waved the crowd nearby, while some prisoners were in tears.
Muhammad’s aunt Nidaa was the one who first got a look at him on the bus. She had been waiting with Abu Sahloul since the night to see if his name would appear on the list to be published.
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw him on the bus,” she said.
“It’s an indescribable feeling”
Published prisoners receive a medical examination in the hospital and clothing before they can reunite with their families. But in front of Muhammad, still in his gray welding products, he and his mother were able to find themselves on their way to the hospital, and hugged themselves.
They had been waiting for this moment for 13 months, often the hope that it would ever happen. Muhammad was out of breath and in tears when his family surrounded him and was anxious that they were their turn to hug him.
“It is an indescribable feeling. God wants to feel the happiness that I have seen,” said Abu Sahloul.
The teenager told El Saife that he was arrested on January 24, 2024 and spent 420 days in custody, where he said he was beaten and electrically – the “worst treatment” he had ever seen in his life. Muhammad said that his family was not given any information when he was arrested. His mother contacted organizations who would know whether he was arrested, but she always returned empty -handed.
Finally, said Muhammad, he lost hope that he would ever see his family again.
“I hadn’t expected a day when I would see the sky without grids,” he said.
