West Bank Residents Praise Hamas for Palestinian Prisoners’ Release
Follow live news updates on the Israel-Hamas war.The two cousins spotted each other on the bus leaving the prison, as shocked to see the other as they were by their sudden freedom. “Pinch me,” Anwar Atta, 18, told his younger cousin. “I need to know if this is a dream.”Then, early Sunday morning, the bus pulled out of Ofer Prison in the West Bank and into a throng of cheering Palestinians. Before the cousins’ feet could touch the ground, they were hoisted into the air and carried through the streets of Ramallah, surrounded by people waving Palestinian and Hamas flags, revving their motorcycle engines and whistling in excitement.“This is thanks to the resistance in Gaza,” Anwar said hours later from his family’s home on the outskirts of the city.Anwar and his cousin, Mourad Atta, 17, are am...