"Ibtisam and Raed Imram are devastated. Nothing stems their tears. Not even hugs, or well-intentioned words of comfort. Three days ago, their brother Muhammad appeared on the initial list of the 100 Palestinian prisoners out of a total of 2,000 scheduled for release on Monday in their native West Bank, as part of the exchange with Hamas for the last 20 surviving Israeli hostages."
"On the final list, published the same morning of the release, he was among the 154 expelled to Egypt, as a result of the opaque changes that the Israeli authorities introduced at the last minute, taking advantage of their position of strength and the fact that U.S. President Donald Trump was flying to Israel to showcase his success before parliament."
"He is 43 years old and an Israeli military court sentenced him to 13 life terms for masterminding a notorious ambush in Hebron in 2002, in the midst of the Second Intifada. Three Islamic Jihad militants killed 12 soldiers, border police, and security guards in the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, opening fire simultaneously from several directions. Muhammad was released after 23 years in prison on Monday, a sentence he served in part without family visitation rights."
Muhammad appeared on an initial list for release to the West Bank as part of a prisoner exchange with Hamas for the remaining Israeli hostages. The final list published the morning of the release placed him among 154 prisoners expelled to Egypt after opaque last-minute changes by Israeli authorities. His siblings waited at the Cultural Palace in Ramallah and returned home devastated when the last bus left empty. Muhammad, 43, had been sentenced to 13 life terms for a 2002 Hebron ambush and was released after 23 years in prison, a sentence partly served without family visitation rights.
Read at english.elpais.com
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