Yarden Bibas, an Israeli father whose family was taken hostage, was freed by Hamas
Palestinians Gather in West Bank to Welcome Prisoners Released by Israel: The case of Zakariya Zubeidi, a former militant and theater director
Finally, around 7 p.m., a chain of buses arrived carrying dozens of Palestinian prisoners, including some who had been convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis. Sixty-seven prisoners came to Ramallah, including 27 children, officials said. Another 14 arrived in Jerusalem and nine in Gaza, while 20 were sent to Egypt.
In memory of her son Mohammad who was killed by an Israeli drone strike in the West Bank, the sisters and friends of the woman waited in a line dressed in black mourning clothes.
She was awaiting the release of her husband, Zakariya Zubeidi, a former militant turned theater director whom Israeli forces arrested in 2019. He became well known in both Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2019 for briefly escaping an Israeli prison.
After Mr. Zubeidi was freed, the crowd lifted him onto their shoulders and chanted his name.
Standing outside a government recreation center, people restlessly checked their phones for news or fielded calls from loved ones who were anxious for updates.
Kfir, the Face of a Family of Four, the Faisal Family, and the Palestinians in the Continuum During the Oct. 7 Attack on a Farming Community
“I’m anxious and praying for the moment I finally see him,” Ms. Faisal said, as volunteers in fluorescent vests hurried by. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is an organization that the United States and the European Union consider to be a terrorist group.
More than 180 people, including a family of four, were killed or are missing in an attack on a farming community in southern Israel. Over the course of the next few months, the family became the face of the trauma that led to a fierce Israeli war in Gaza, which has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians.
Israeli officials say about 1,200 people were killed on the night of Oct. 7th, and more than 1,750 have died in the war. The toll includes more than 890 members of the Israeli military forces.
Throughout more than a year of waiting, hostage families and their supporters have carried orange balloons and worn orange shirts in honor of the missing children and their ginger-colored hair. They have held large events to mark the first two birthdays of Kfir, who has never celebrated one out of captivity.
According to the Israeli media, Hamas was asked for more clarity about Ms. Bibas and her children. As a female civilian with children, they were expected to be released in the initial stages of the cease-fire deal, before soldiers or men, if they were alive.
In the early morning hours before his capture, he texted his sister, Ofri Bibas-Levy, to tell her about incoming rocket fire, according to an interview she gave to Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster. Later, he texted her that militants had entered the camp. He told her he had a gun, but the enemies had automatic rifles.
Ms. Bibas-Levy told Kan that the first she learned of her brother’s Oct. 7 kidnapping when she saw a video of militants abducting him a few days later.
