Khan Younis, Gaza – During last week, Najat al-Agha went very happy that she has ever created in Heartbreak when he learned that his son, who was part of 620 Palestinian prisoners intended to be released on Saturday, would not be released.
Diaa al-Agha, who was arrested for killing an Israeli officer at the age of 16, has been in prison for almost 33 years, the oldest prisoner in Gaza in Israeli prisons.
Najat, seventy-five, has been waiting for Diaa since he was taken on October 10, 1992. She campaigned, participated in Sit-in, spoken during conferences and has become one of the best known faces of families prisoners.
“Oh, my son, I waited for this moment for 33 years, and it disappeared before my eyes,” she cried.
Destroy a fragile hope
Najat is not the only person crushed by Israel’s decision not to release 620 Palestinian prisoners, although it is part of a cease-fire agreement between IT and Hamas in Gaza.
On Saturday, Hamas presented six captives taken in Israel in October 2023 and Israel was supposed to release 620 people which he had owned at different times.
But he decided not to, claiming that the transfer ceremony of the six captives had been “provocative” and that he would stop the versions of the prisoners.
“When they told us that there would be no release, I collapsed, shouting:” Why? ” For what?’
“So I lost consciousness.”
That morning, Najat, his son Mohammed, his wife and children, and his daughter Ola with his children, rose on rue Salah al-Din to try to reach Khan Younis where the liberation was expected. They had been moved for a large part of the war.
Salah al-Din is the only Israel street allows cars to use.
“I continued to plead with the driver:” Please, son, hurry up, “she said.
“He could only answer:” It’s out of my hands, mother, looks at traffic. “”
It took more than an hour to reach their house devastated in Khan Younis, which Israel had bombed in November 2023 during its assault against Gaza. The trip is around 24 km (15 miles).
Parents, neighbors and friends had gathered at home to celebrate the imminent Liberation of Diaa.
“I embrace people, barely believing that I finally heard these words after 33 years,” explains Najat.
Some of the mothers from other prisoners urged her to wear the embroidered dresses she had prepared for the return of Diaa.
“They all knew (on the dresses) but they were lost when my house was destroyed (by Israel),” she signed.
Fragile Hope Rising
When Najat learned that Israel had finally agreed to release Diaa from the lot on Saturday, her “heart almost broke out of joy,” she recalls with weariness.
“I had dreamed of this day for so long,” she continues, tears flowing on her face. “For 33 years, I was afraid of not living to see my son free.”
But she clings to her hope. “In a few days, he will be in my arms,” she whispers, as if she wanted the dream in reality.
Diaa al-Agha
The name of Diaa was included in the exchanges of previous prisoners, Israel refusing, citing his crime.
Member of the Fatah movement from the age of 13, Diaa began to participate in armed operations at the age of 16.
Now he suffers from health problems affecting his bones and his digestive system, but he was refused an appropriate medical treatment, according to his mother.
Najat waited and prayed for other men from his family who were previously detained.
Her husband, Zakaria, was arrested in 1973 to belong to resistance groups and spent two years in Israeli police custody. He died in 2005, after a stroke, she said that he had because of his pain to see Diaa in prison the day before.
His eldest son, Azzam, was detained in 1990 for belonging to an “designated terrorist military wing” and spent four years in prison, while Mohammed served 12 years, accused of deliberately shooting Israeli soldiers.
Each time, Najat waited, counting the days and visiting when she could.
She also continued to visit Diaa, despite access to access.
“But I consider myself lucky because the last time I saw it, it was just a month before the war against Gaza. He was healthy and healthy, ”she says.
“Are we just pawns?”
Standing while waiting for the release of Diaa, Najat has gone through fear, anticipation and hope.
“I continued to imagine how he would have come out-his hands and his feet chained in this bitter cold,” she said.
“I know that Israeli prison guards enjoy humiliating prisoners in their last moment before the release,” she said Tremblant. “It filled me with dread.”
But she also imagined spending her first Ramadan in 33 years with him.
“I imagined myself preparing my favorite meals – I would not let anyone cook. I want to compensate for all the years we were separated. »»
The idea of leaving without him that night did not cross his mind – until it is.
“I saw people cry, whispering. My children have snuggled together and I heard: “No, not today”.
“I caught my daughter Ola:” Tell me what’s going on. What does “no” mean?
Her children tried to calm her down, assuring her that it was just a delay. But the world around her blurred, as she said.
“I didn’t want to hear anyone. I didn’t want to talk. I just shouted to protest until everything is getting dark.
“Are we just pawns for them?” She cried. “Thirty-three years of waiting-isn’t it enough?”
“I will see my son free, I hope very soon,” she says, her resolute voice. “I waited 33 years, I will wait a little longer.”