In total, 183 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons on Saturday in exchange for three Israelis held in Gaza in the fifth such swap as part of an ongoing ceasefire in Gaza.
More than 100 Palestinians freed into Gaza on Saturday returned to the territory to find it rendered unrecognisable by 15 months of war, while for many the fate of their loved ones was unknown.
"How is my family? Are they still alive?" one prisoner asked, calling out from a bus window as prisoners arrived in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
"Have there been martyrs in my family?" he shouted again before a voice in the crowd responded.
"They are all ok," came the reply.
In total, 183 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons on Saturday in exchange for three Israelis held in Gaza in the fifth such swap as part of an ongoing ceasefire in Gaza.
Of those released, 41 returned to the West Bank city of Ramallah, four were released in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, seven were deported to Egypt and 131 were sent to Gaza.
Stepping off the Red Cross chartered coaches in the Palestinian territory, some looked weary and weak, while others exulted, looking to catch a glimpse of a familiar face.
Family members, friends and loved ones in the crowd surged towards the returning prisoners, wanting to touch them, shake their hands or film the scene on their phones.
In the background, loudspeakers blasted political chants, sometimes echoed by the crowd.
Khadra al-Daghma, on the verge of collapse, struggled to make her way to her son before falling into his arms as he kissed her forehead.
"I'm so happy", she said, struggling to find words. "I waited for this day to come for 15 years".
All around her, teary-eyed relatives and freed prisoners, some of whom had not seen each other in decades, were hugging and crying.
"He's changed so much", al-Daghma said after holding her son Amar, who was arrested in 2009, in her arms.
Following Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel in 2023, the Israeli army relentlessly bombarded Gaza for more than 15 months.
An already impoverished territory before this latest war, it has now been left in ruins.
With over 48,000 dead and 111,000 wounded, according to Hamas's Ministry of Health, the population has been left drained and traumatised by the relentless violence.
Over 90 percent of Palestinians in Gaza were displaced at least once during the war, according to the UN.
Of those who returned home after a ceasefire took effect on January 19, many have had to pitch tents next to their old homes, which they found destroyed.
The contrast between the land they left and the one they are returning to is stark for returning prisoners.
"During our six months of detention, we were completely cut off from the world, we got no information on the war in Gaza", Mohammed, a freed prisoner who declined to share his last name, said.
"The scale of the destruction shocked us, Gaza is in ruins, there is rubble everywhere", he said.
"With the (Israeli) occupation of Gaza, I'm afraid they'll arrest us again at any moment," the recently freed prisoner added.
© Agence France-Presse
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