“What is Hidden is Greater” program raises hope.. Families of prisoners in Gaza await Al-Qassam’s promises of freedom for their children

“As if I smell the scent of my understanding and Salah,” with this phrase that mimics the words of the Prophet of God Jacob, “I find the wind of Yusuf.” The father of the two captives, Fahmy and Salah, described his feelings as he eagerly followed the “What is Hidden is Greater” program entitled “In the grip of the resistance,” which was broadcast by Al Jazeera last night.

Since the announcement of the first media appearance during the program by Marwan Issa, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (the military arm of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas), the sixty-year-old Asaad Abu Salah told Al Jazeera Net, "We were counting the minutes for the good news of a close prisoner exchange deal."

The families of Hamas prisoners in Gaza share the same feelings, and they say that the hope of completing an exchange deal to liberate their sons from the occupation’s prisons has risen in an unprecedented manner, following the remarkable statements of Issa in “What is hidden is greater” and the previous statements of the movement’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, following the recent Israeli war. on Gaza.

great hope

The father of the two captives, Fahmy and Salah - who was with his two sons in the occupation prisons before his liberation within the "Wafaa al-Ahrar Deal" popularly known as the "Shalit Deal" - says that he was watching the program and felt as if his two sons would knock on the door of the house at any moment.

Israeli special forces kidnapped Asaad and his two sons Fahmy and Salah from their home in the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip in 2008, and sentenced him to 25 years in prison, and sentenced Fahmy to 22 years, and Salah 17 years.

The father, who spent about 5 years in the prisons of the occupation before his liberation in late 2011, said that he trusted the Al-Qassam Brigades and the Resistance, and that the prisoners' file was of special importance to it.

Issa had confirmed in his first media appearance within "What is Hidden is Greater" that the resistance possesses bargaining chips to achieve an "honorable exchange deal".

He said that the prisoners' file is the most important now on the Al-Qassam Brigades leadership table, and "this priority for this file means that there is an effort equivalent to the size of this file, whatever the costs. We cannot waste more time looking at the suffering of our prisoners and their families, and the extent of the Zionist crime practiced." their right.”

Al-Qassam Brigades holds 4 Israeli prisoners, two soldiers they captured during the war on Gaza in 2014, and their fate is unknown whether they were alive or dead, and two others who entered Gaza in unclear circumstances.

Among the Abu Salah family, who followed with great interest the “What is Hidden is Greater” program, was the 6-year-old Asaad, who was born from a smuggled sperm to his captive father Fahmy, and the grandfather says that his grandson said spontaneously, “My father and my uncle have gone back” (they come back).

The little boy and his older sister - who was a baby - never saw their father, as is the case with the families of Hamas prisoners in Gaza, who have been denied visits for nearly 7 years.

"Permacy" of freedom

Seventy-year-old Fayza Abu Al-Qambuz told Al-Jazeera Net that she started thinking about the type of food she would prepare for her son, Majed, who has been in the occupation prisons since 2006, and he is sentenced to 19 years in prison for belonging to the Al-Qassam Brigades.

Over the past years, the old mother was afraid that she would die before embracing Majed Hara, but she says that her hope was renewed with "the near relief."

In his last call with his mother about a week ago, Majed seemed optimistic about the statements leaked to them inside the prisons by the resistance about the exchange deal, and conveyed to her that happiness fell on the prisoners when they received (news) about the achievements of the resistance during the last war.

Convinced that he will soon have a date with freedom, Majid asked his mother to prepare for him "samaqiya", a traditional Palestinian dish that is served at weddings and happy occasions, and Umm Majed said, "We spent the call talking about the types of food he loves."

When Majed was arrested, his daughter Zina was in her first year, and his son Youssef was a fetus in his mother's womb, and he saw him for the first time during his only visit in prison at the age of 6 years.

The grandmother says that Youssef is 15 years old now, and he always asks about his father, understands everything that is going on around him, and constantly follows what the resistance says about the exchange deal, and he hopes that his father will be among the liberated prisoners.

High spirits

The prisoners inside the occupation prisons believe that a simple “touch” is left in order to officially announce an exchange deal. Abu Salah says that he spoke in the last contact with his son Fahmy with other prisoners, and their spirits were high and they trusted the resistance and its ability to liberate them.

Abu Salah has tasted the bitterness of prison several times, and says that he knows what the exchange deal represents for many prisoners who are serving high life sentences, and are waiting for it as their last chance to freedom.

From his conversation with the prisoners, Abu Salah sensed that they enjoyed high morale, and great hope that they would soon embrace freedom, and indicated that they were following the course of the recent war on Gaza, seizing the leaks that reached them, and showing great confidence in the resistance and the Al-Qassam Brigades.

A conversation with a prisoner

Al-Jazeera Net correspondent contacted a prisoner from Hamas who spoke via a "smuggled phone" from inside the occupation prisons, and said that they were able to watch the program on the "Al-Aqsa Visual" screen, in light of the occupation authorities' deletion of Al-Jazeera channel from the televisions inside the prisons.

The Hamas prisoner said that the program raised the morale of the prisoners inside the prisons, adding that the appearance of a commander with the weight of Marwan Issa increased their confidence in the resistance and that the prisoners' file is a priority for Hamas.

And he stressed - in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net correspondent - that a state of happiness hangs over the prisons, and there is great hope among the prisoners, especially those with high sentences, that their time for freedom is near.