“She Is the First Drop of Rain”: Manar Awaits Osama Ashqar’s Freedom After 23 Years in Israeli Prison

For years, Manar Khalawi held onto hope. She had never met Osama Ashqar in person before their engagement, yet she chose him against all odds. Introduced by her cousin, Bahaa Odeh, who was also imprisoned, she read about Osama’s story, learned about his life, and knew he was the one. Even though he was serving eight life sentences plus 50 years, she did not hesitate. In 2020, while he remained behind bars, they got engaged. Their only connection since then has been through radio messages.

Osama was never meant to walk free—at least not without a prisoner exchange. His sentence made it impossible. His name became known in the resistance for his role in Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in Tulkarm. For 23 years, he remained locked away, believing he might never leave.

But today, Osama is coming home.

His family received the confirmation. He is part of the sixth phase of the prisoner exchange deal between the Palestinian resistance and Israel. Alongside him, 369 Palestinian prisoners will be released. Among them, 36 are serving life sentences, while the remaining 333 were arrested from Gaza after October 7.

Manar never stopped waiting. She held onto a love that had only existed through words, through letters passed in secrecy, through radio waves carrying hope. She dreamed of the day he would walk free, of the moment he would finally step into the life they had imagined.

Osama sees his love story with Manar as an act of defiance. “My engagement to her was my gateway to freedom,” he once said. “The first drop of rain in the storm of liberation. Defying the occupation means continuing life inside prison—studying, graduating, getting engaged, even building a future beyond these walls. Palestinian prisoners are part of a just cause, one that will only end when the occupation does.”

Inside his cell, Osama refused to let time break him. He became a writer, a member of the Palestinian Writers and Authors Union. He published two books—A Different Taste of Prison and Letters That Broke the Chains. With every page he wrote, he pushed back against the bars that confined him.

Now, as he prepares to step out of prison, he will meet Manar for the first time as a free man. He will see the world after more than two decades of darkness. He will finally begin the life that prison tried to steal from him.

For Manar, this day is everything. She did not just wait—she built a future in her heart. She chose him when the world told her not to. And today, after 23 years, he is finally coming home.