DayofPal– After spending 27 years behind Israeli bars, Palestinian resistance fighter, writer, and political prisoner Ammar Al-Zaben has finally walked free as part of a landmark prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel.
His release on February 27, 2025, marks the end of one of the longest incarcerations of a Palestinian fighter, bringing an emotional close to a decades-long chapter of struggle, resilience, and defiance.
Born in Nablus in 1975, Al-Zaben’s life was shaped by the harssh attacks of Israeli occupation. His family, rooted in the struggle for Palestinian freedom, bore immense sacrifices; hs eldest brother, Bashar, was killed in 1993 after years of resistance.
Al-Zaben himself was arrested three times, first as a teenager in 1992, again in 1994, and finally in 1998 after returning from Jordan on a military mission.
His final arrest led to one of the harshest sentences ever handed down by Israel, 27 life terms plus 25 years, a punishment was deemed as more cruel than the weight of his role in multiple resistance operations.
Throughout his imprisonment, he endured extreme interrogations, losing over 20 kilograms due to torture. His parents passed away while he was still behind bars, and for years, his wife and daughters were banned from visiting him.
Despite being locked behind concrete and steel, Al-Zaben made history in 2012 by becoming the first Palestinian prisoner to smuggle sperm out of an Israeli prison, allowing his wife, Dallal, to conceive their son Mohannad.
The birth of Mohannad, dubbed “The Ambassador of Freedom,” ignited a new form of defiance among Palestinian prisoners. By 2024, over 100 children had been born through similar methods, turning Al-Zaben’s act into a revolutionary symbol of perseverance.
He later had a second son, Salah Al-Din, in 2014, reinforcing the message that even behind bars, the will to live and to resist could not be crushed.
On January 15, 2025, a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel included a seventh batch of prisoner releases, in which Al-Zaben’s name finally appeared. His freedom was met with jubilation in Nablus, where thousands gathered to welcome him home, chanting his name and waving Palestinian flags.
For Al-Zaben, however, the struggle is far from over. In his first speech after release, he declared, “Prison may have caged my body, but it never chained my spirit. The fight for Palestine continues.”
Even while imprisoned, Al-Zaben’s voice reached beyond the prison walls through his writing. He authored several books and novels that depicted the Palestinian resistance struggle, including: When Oranges Bloom (2011), Behind Enemy Lines (2015) recounting the 1994 capture of Israeli soldier Nachshon Wachsman, The Revolution of Eibal.
In addition, he wrote Angelica, a story about a Jewish girl aiding the Palestinian resistance during the Second Intifada, The Pack (2017), and The Road to Yaffa Street (2020). His literary contributions have been hailed as a testament to the resilience of the Palestinian spirit.
As Al-Zaben steps into the world beyond prison walls, his legacy continues to inspire a new generation of Palestinians. His story, a blend of sacrifice, loss, determination, and an unbreakable will, cements his place as a symbol of Palestinian resistance.
The fight for freedom, he insists, does not end with his release, it only evolves into the next chapter.
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