A brother weeps as he hears his siblings will be freed after 23 years

Two men's names appear among 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in swap deal

- Oliver Marsden

Ziad Roum began to cry as he described the moment he had learned that his two brothers, Imad and Jihad, were finally to be released after 23 years in Israeli prisons.

"You can't imagine how it feels," the 65-year-old Palestinian said. "My feelings are a mixture of joy, sadness and concern.

"We were [watching] the news constantly, trying to figure out what was true and what was not."

From his office in Ramallah, electrical engineer Ziad - once an actor and producer - scrolled endlessly through messages from relatives as news of the ceasefire deal broke.

His brothers' names were on the list: among nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners who are set to be swapped for 48 Israeli hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive, under a deal approved by Israel's Knesset after Donald Trump's peace plan landed in Jerusalem.

Under the agreement, Israel will release 250 Palestinians convicted or suspected of security offences, along with 1,700 others detained during the Gaza war, and the bodies of 360 fighters.