The Longest-Serving Palestinian Prisoner, Deported to Egypt, Sent a New Wedding Ring to his Wife.

Nael Barghouti, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli facility, was unable to reunite with his wife upon his release on Thursday, prompting him to send her a second wedding ring inscribed with their names.

Imprisoned for life since 1978 for the murder of an Israeli bus driver and still viewed by Israel as a significant threat, Barghouti was deported to Egypt rather than being permitted to return to his residence in the occupied West Bank.

He entrusted another recently released prisoner, part of the latest exchange of hostages for prisoners between Hamas and Israel, to deliver the ring to his wife, Eman Nafe, 60, who had spent a decade in an Israeli prison for her involvement in a suicide attack plot.

Nafe revealed that the Israeli prison authority had confiscated Barghouti’s original wedding ring.

“The first wedding ring symbolized our life and the time we spent together,” she remarked. “This new ring represents the continuation of our life, which the occupation cannot sever.”

At 67, Barghouti is venerated by militants as the “dean” of prisoners. He was previously released in a 2011 exchange but was re-arrested three years later and has remained incarcerated since. He married Nafe during his prior period of freedom.

Israel has stated that Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis will be permanently deported if released under the Gaza ceasefire agreement and will not be allowed to return to their homes in the West Bank.

Barghouti was among 620 Palestinian prisoners released on Thursday in exchange for the remains of four Israeli hostages, marking the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire arrangement.

“God bless you, we miss you dearly. What can I say!” Nafe expressed to Barghouti via telephone from their home as he listened from Cairo.

She had hoped to travel to Egypt to be with him, but Israeli authorities prevented her from crossing the bridge to Jordan from the West Bank.

“When I planned to travel, I brought some clementines, wanting him to taste the fruits of his labor. I wished for him to return and pick the harvest himself,” she shared.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *