By nightfall, the road in front of the Beitunia checkpoint had the feel of a restive festival, the sting of politics and tear gas mingling in the air.
Small campfires flickered in front of a handful of green Hamas flags; there were many more Palestinian ones.
The return of 39 Palestinians from Israeli prisons to their homes in the occupied West Bank was never just going to be a family affair.
Israel’s jailing of large numbers of people on security grounds is widely seen by Palestinians as a tool of the occupation.
Charges range from murder and violent attacks on Israelis to stone-throwing. Many Palestinians say Israel is criminalising acts of resistance by an occupied people.
A quarter of the population of the West Bank has spent time in an Israeli jail; it is a shared experience.
And more than 3,000 people have been arrested since the 7 October attacks – including almost 900 children – according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club president, Abdallah Zughary. Many of these detainees have been placed in administrative detention without charge, he says.
“Most of them are civilians, not affiliated with any kind of political party or militant group,” Mr Zughary told me.
“Since 7 October, there have been no visits by families or lawyers to prisoners. And six prisoners have died.”
He accuses Israel of using the justice system as a “revenge policy”.
