MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees have been freed from Israeli jails these past few weeks. That's in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. It's part of the fragile ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Many of those Palestinians were released to their families in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and they allege harassment, arrests and intimidation by Israel. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports.
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KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: The Zughayer house is at the end of a long residential street in East Jerusalem. On the morning we visit, kids are running around. It's full of family. We're here to see 47-year-old Ashraf Zughayer, who was recently released after 23 years in Israeli jail.
ASHRAF ZUGHAYER: I feel I was born again.
LONSDORF: He was arrested in 2002 for being a member of Hamas and driving a suicide bomber to an attack on a Tel Aviv bus. Six people were killed. He was sentenced to 600 years in jail. Ashraf said, when he heard he would be released...
ZUGHAYER: Tell me - that's dream or truth?
LONSDORF: When he got released, members of his family immediately rushed him home where his parents were waiting for him.
ZUGHAYER: That's the best moment in my life. Yeah.
LONSDORF: His mom had cooked a big meal, and people from all around the neighborhood gathered. But the celebration was short-lived.
ZUGHAYER: Two hours after that, soldiers of the Israeli occupation forced my house.
LONSDORF: Israeli forces raided the house, guns raised, according to the family and several New York Times journalists who were there covering it. They forced people, including children, to the floor. They arrested Ashraf's brother. They came back two days later and arrested 12 more members of the Zughayer family. The Israeli police told NPR they were arrested for, quote, "involvement in a recent demonstration supporting a terrorist." A police report says they were waving Hamas flags and shot off a gun. The family denies that.
ZUGHAYER: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: Ashraf says his relatives tried to argue, saying they were celebrating Ashraf's release because he's family, not because he's Hamas. Israel says such celebrations encourage violence and terrorism and has long discouraged them. And the government has been especially adamant about it during this ceasefire deal, banning them. But Palestinians say the rules are ambiguous and that the ban is an intimidation tactic.
QADURA FARES: The Israelis play some silly games.
LONSDORF: Qadura Fares is the head of the Palestinian Prisoner Affairs Commission, the official Palestinian group that deals with detainees. He says what happened at the Zughayer house is an extreme case, but it fits a wider pattern.
FARES: In all the villages, all the refugee camps, the Shabak phone the family.
LONSDORF: That's Israel's internal security agency. Fares says released detainees and their families get frequent phone calls, reminding them not to celebrate. The security agency, also known as Shin Bet, did not respond to NPR's requests for comment. And Fares points out...
FARES: Israel continue arresting as part of their strategy.
LONSDORF: Israeli forces are still arresting Palestinians in the West Bank on a daily basis, especially since it launched a major operation there just as this ceasefire deal went into effect. So even as hundreds of Palestinians have been released from Israeli jails in recent weeks, hundreds more have been arrested or detained during that time. And...
FARES: Those that they released - they could rearrest them again.
LONSDORF: Dozens of those released in the first ceasefire deal back in 2023 were later rearrested and four killed by Israeli forces. Fares says it's a way of keeping former detainees and their families on their toes.
RUDEINA: (Non-English language spoken).
LONSDORF: In a small Palestinian village outside of Ramallah, Rudeina and her nephew Hamad welcome us to their family home. We're not using their last names because they tell us they've been threatened by Israeli forces, and they fear for their safety. Rudeina's brother, Hamad's uncle, is soon to be released after 16 years in Israeli jail on charges of being affiliated with Hamas.
HAMAD: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: Hamad says Israeli soldiers were just at the house a few hours ago.
HAMAD: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: He says the soldiers told them that if the family celebrates, they'll raid the house and arrest anyone who participated.
RUDEINA: (Speaking Arabic).
LONSDORF: Rudeina says it all has the family on edge. As we're talking, another member of the family pokes their head into the living room and says word has spread that the Israeli military is at another house down the street. Rudeina keeps getting up to look out the window nervously.
RUDEINA: (Non-English language spoken).
LONSDORF: "Maybe after you leave," she says, "the soldiers will come back."
We pack up and head out just as 1, 2, 3 armored military jeeps waving the Israeli flag drive by the house and continue down the street. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, in the occupied West Bank. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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