Kobar, West Bank: Nael Barghouti, the longest-serving Palestinian inmate in an Israeli prison, was unable to see his wife upon his release on Thursday. Instead, he sent her a second wedding ring engraved with their names, symbolizing their enduring bond despite decades of separation.
Barghouti, 67, was jailed for life in 1978 for killing an Israeli bus driver and remains classified by Israel as a dangerous security threat. Rather than being allowed to return to his home in the occupied West Bank, he was deported to Egypt.
He entrusted another prisoner, released as part of the latest Hamas-Israel prisoner exchange, to deliver the ring to his wife, Eman Nafe, 60, who herself spent a decade in an Israeli prison for planning a suicide attack.
A Symbol of Resilience
Nafe revealed that Israeli prison authorities had confiscated Barghouti’s original wedding ring.
“The first wedding ring meant our life, a long time together,” she said. “But this one is the continuation of our life, which occupation can’t end.”
Barghouti, revered by Palestinian militants as the “dean” of prisoners, was previously freed in a 2011 prisoner swap but was re-arrested in 2014 and detained ever since. During his brief period of freedom, he married Nafe.
Under the terms of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, Israel has stated that Palestinian prisoners convicted of killing Israelis must be permanently deported and will not be allowed to return to the West Bank.
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A Separation That Continues
Barghouti was one of 620 Palestinian prisoners and detainees released in exchange for the remains of four Israeli hostages in the first phase of the ceasefire deal. Despite the long-awaited release, his reunion with Nafe remains out of reach.
“God bless you, we miss you so much. What can I say!” Nafe told Barghouti by phone from their home, as he listened from Cairo.
Hoping to join him in Egypt, she attempted to leave the West Bank via Jordan but said Israeli authorities barred her from crossing.
“When I wanted to travel, I took with me some clementines. I wanted him to eat from his plants. I hoped that he would come back and pick the fruits,” she said.
Israeli authorities have not responded to requests for comment, according to Reuters’ report.
