It had been a long time since Palestinians last had such an opportunity to celebrate. On Saturday, January 25, in exchange for four Israeli soldiers released by Hamas, 200 Palestinian prisoners were freed by Israel, 121 of whom had been serving life sentences. Throughout the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, discreet celebrations were organized in their honor.

Some had been incarcerated for decades, like Raed al-Saadi. Arrested at the age of 21, in 1989, he was the oldest prisoner from the Jenin governorate in the northern West Bank. The military court that had found him guilty of having organized attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. He was sentenced to two life sentences, and, on Saturday, released at the age of 57, after 36 years behind bars. Straight away, he set off for his home village of Silat al-Harithiya.

In this farming village, nestled among olive orchards not far from Jenin, his family was gathered in a community hall, preparing for his return. The celebration would remain modest, explained Ammar, the activist's brother: "We wanted to organize a very simple ceremony, with only Palestinian flags – not those of political parties – because this is a great moment of national joy, the likes of which we haven't seen for years. It's sad that this joy has been tarnished by so many of our own killed in Gaza. And by the fact that our parents and eldest brother died before Raed's return. Our father would have liked to hug him so much."

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