In an interview with the Anatolia news agency, Muna’s mother, Semira Muna, stated that she is very happy about her daughter’s having been placed in Turkey. Semira Muna said that many journalists came to her for interviews when her daughter was first arrested by Israeli forces, during her time in prison and after her exile to Turkey, but she has always refused to talk to them. She said she didn’t agree to speak to a Turkish journalist because her daughter is exiled to Turkey, but because she has always loved Turkey and Turkish people. She said: “My daughter is in a heavenly place now. I am not just happy, I am the happiest person in the world. She [Amina] is free and in Turkey now. I could not be any happier.”
Amina’s mother later mentioned a telephone conversation with her daughter, “She asked me ‘Mom, have you ever dreamed about heaven?’ and I said, ‘Sometimes.’ She then said: ‘I’m in heaven now: I’m in Turkey. I am free and happy now. They are treating me so kindly here. They will assist me with anything I need.’” Muna added that she and her two sons will be visiting her daughter in Turkey very soon.
The swap agreement included the release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons in two batches, in exchange for Hamas’ freeing of a single soldier from the Israeli defense forces, Gilad Shalit, five years after he was abducted by Hamas in an ambush near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
