Palestinian families, as well as Israelis, have been celebrating reunions, as loved ones held in Israeli prisons return home under the ceasefire deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But for the Hammad family, from occupied East Jerusalem, this week has brought more questions than answers – and more worry than joy.
Their daughter, 16-year-old Nofuz Hammad, was on the list of imprisoned women and children to be released on Saturday, the second day of an agreed four-day truce. Only one member of each family was allowed to go to collect the detainees, some of whom, including Nofuz, were supposed to be released at the notorious West Jerusalem detention and interrogation facility known as the Russian Compound.
Her father, Jad, 47, used his Jerusalem ID card – the retractable Israeli residency permits given to people of Palestinian ethnicity living in the annexed eastern half of the city – to travel to the Russian Compound, where he waited for hours in the cold. But around midnight, as other sons and daughters came out of the building and ran into the arms of their parents, Nofuz was nowhere to be seen.
“I saw her arrive on the bus, so I know she was there,” Hammad said in an interview at his home in the restive East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
“The other girls with her said they saw her in the centre last at about 8pm. When I asked the Israeli police they told me nothing except ‘go home’.”
By Monday, the family’s lawyers found out that Nofuz had been transferred back to Damon prison. It was alleged she was beaten, and spent at least one night in hospital before being sent back, but Jad said he had no other details. Israel’s prison service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nofuz was arrested in 2021, aged 14, for stabbing an Israeli woman, a settler, who suffered minor injuries. The girl was sentenced to 12 years, with three suspended, and fined 50,000 shekels (£10,700) in damages.
A total of 300 Palestinian women and children in Israeli prisons were put forward as candidates for the exchange of 50 Israeli hostages seized by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and taken back to Gaza during the fighters’ assault on Israel on 7 October. More than 1,200 people were killed in those attacks, and almost 15,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the new war in the Gaza Strip.
The truce has been tense, with both sides accusing the other of not adhering to the terms of the agreement. Israel has pointed out that Hamas has broken a promise not to split up families during the release process, while Hamas has said that Israeli officials have not released prisoners who have spent the longest amount of time in jail first, as stipulated, or allowed the agreed amount of aid to reach Gaza. Qatari mediators have been working to resolve the issues. A deal to extend the ceasefire was announced on Monday.
Sixty-two of approximately 240 hostages held by Hamas have been released so far. A total of 117 Palestinians have also been freed, in the process drawing attention to what human rights organisations describe as widespread abuses in the Israeli military court and prison system for Palestinians.
According to UN data, one in five Palestinians spends time in Israeli prison at some point; before the exchange of hostages and prisoners began last week, the Palestinian Prisoners Society said that 7,200 prisoners were held by Israel, among them 88 women and 250 children.
Many on the list of 300 are held in administrative detention, which allows for pre-emptive arrest, on secret evidence, and six-month extendable stints in prison without charge or trial. Israel has arrested an additional 3,260 Palestinians, including 120 women and more than 200 children, since 7 October.
Israeli authorities refused to release anyone sentenced for murder; most are held for stone throwing, damaging property and contact with “hostile” organisations, in addition to more serious charges including stabbings and making explosives.
Addameer, a Palestinian human rights group supporting Palestinian political prisoners, said: “The release of Palestinian women and child political prisoners highlights the systematic, arbitrary and mass incarceration of Palestinian civilians in Israeli military prisons … Addameer has consistently emphasised the illegality of the Israeli military judicial system, which oversees the arrest and detention of tens of thousands every year with a conviction rate of over 99.7%.”
Many of those released this week have alleged serious mistreatment since 7 October, including the withholding of food and water, beatings and overcrowding measures used as collective punishment. Israel’s prison service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In stark contrast to the street parties in Tel Aviv, and Ramallah, the administrative capital of the West Bank, Palestinian families in East Jerusalem have been unable to celebrate the release of their loved ones. Large gatherings and the tradition of handing out sweets are banned, while talking to media outlets is punishable by large fines. The Israeli border police presence has intensified, with officers now patrolling outside the family homes of returning prisoners.
Israa Jaabis, imprisoned since 2015 after being convicted of a car explosion that wounded an Israeli police officer, was sentenced to 11 years. She maintains it was an accident. Israeli police did not initially allow her son to enter the family house when she returned home on Saturday, the family said.
Nofuz Hammad is now the youngest female Palestinian held in Israeli custody.
Her father believes her heavy sentence was to punish the family, one of six in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem who face eviction orders from their homes after claims from Israeli settlers that they own the land. The dispute helped spark an 11-day war between Hamas and Israel in May 2021.
“I don’t know anything about what has happened to Nofuz. I don’t know if she’s dead or alive,” he said. “I have to have hope that the ceasefire will continue and she will come home. I can’t wait to hug her soon.”
