Among the 39 Palestinians released by Israel under a prisoner exchange program under a four-day truce with Hamas, brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, was a woman named Israa Jaabis who was in Israeli detention for the past eight years.
Ms Jaabis, now 37, was convicted of detonating a gas cylinder in her car at a checkpoint on a highway leading from Ma'ale Adumim to Jerusalem, injuring an Israeli police officer. Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency, claimed a traffic police officer observed Ms Jaabis driving in the bus lane while following closely behind a police vehicle.
Shin Bet claims that police detected a suspicious vehicle driven by Ms Jaabis nearing a checkpoint on the route to Jerusalem and motioned for her to stop. Ms Jaabis exclaimed "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) and activated an explosive device in her vehicle. Shin Bet also claims that handwritten notes were recovered from her person that voiced support for "Palestinian martyrs".
The Israeli police officer, identified as Moshe Chen, and Ms Jaabis were wounded in the alleged car bombing and transported to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem neighborhood.
Palestine authorities dispute the claim that Ms Jaabis attempted a car bombing. Stripping her of any wrongdoing, Palestinian officials claimed Ms Jaabis was carrying household items in her car which included butane gas canisters for her kitchen. They claimed a mechanical failure in Ms Jaabis's car sparked a blaze that consumed the butane canisters she was transporting, trapping her inside the vehicle.
Born in 1984, Ms Jaabis was sentenced to 11 years in prison the same month.
Following her indictment, Ms Jaabis became a symbol of resistance among Palestinian liberation activists. Her photo featuring her partially burnt face was used in protests and demonstrations calling for Palestinian independence.
On Saturday, she was part of the first contingent of Palestinian prisoners released under the recently-brokered truce.
"I'm ashamed to talk about rejoicing when the whole of Palestine is wounded," Ms Jaabis said as quoted by news agency AFP. "They must release everyone."
This is one of the most significant Israel-Palestine prisoner exchange events since 2011 when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to free over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Schalit, an IDF soldier taken hostage by Palestinian militants near the Israeli border.
