Carol Lin: Tearful reunions in Bethlehem

CNN's Carol Lin

BETHLEHEM, West Bank, (CNN) -- After a five-week standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, an agreement was reached between Israeli and Palestinian authorities for 13 men, described by Israel as "senior terrorists," to go into exile abroad. An additional 26 will be confined to Gaza, but the majority of those in the church were allowed to go home.

CNN's Carol Lin told Anchor Daryn Kagan about the homecoming for one of those men.

CAROL LIN: Hi, Daryn. Yes, I'm at the home of the Rahal family. We've been here all day long, here in their Bethlehem home as they were waiting to hear word from not one, but two sons who were trapped inside the Church of the Nativity standoff. One, a married father of one child, Kasai Rahal, who is a dental technician; and his brother, Baha Rahal, 22, who is a student. They were swept into the Church of the Nativity, along with so many other people, because they just happened to be in the area at that time five weeks ago.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO CNN's Carol Lin witnesses one family's joy as it reunites with two of the Palestinians caught up in the Church of the Nativity seige (May 10) Play video

It's been agonizing for the family. But right now I'm standing in the courtyard where there are probably about 30 family members here. Lots of hugs and kisses. We were at the crossroads, where many of the civilians were dropped off by the Israeli police. They were dropped off at the Al Hussein Hospital near Bethlehem because primarily so that there were ambulances that could take them across town if they didn't have a ride to their house. The city of Bethlehem is still under curfew, so a lot of these relatives actually took their chances in breaking the law to try to catch up with their relatives at that crossroads.

But, Daryn, we're just beginning to get the details of the 38 days that these two men were inside the Church of the Nativity. One of them has lost -- get this -- more than 20 pounds because of lack of food and water during some of the time that he was in there. We're just beginning to ask some questions about damage inside the church, who caused that damage and what the experience has been like.

But I can tell you that it's a sweet scene, after being with this family for eight hours today, to finally see them reunited.

KAGAN: Yeah, Carol, share with us a little bit what that reunion was like.

LIN: We got the call here in the family courtyard that finally the buses were going to be leaving and that they would be dropped off at this crossroads in front of the hospital. And the family was ecstatic.

They were debating, though, whether they were going to try to break curfew to make it across town to get to the hospital. We drove out with them when they made that decision, and they pulled over. And we came upon this scene.

There must have been about 100 people gathered in the streets, the sirens were going with the police as they were dropping these people off. And there was a sea of people, all these men running up the street. Mothers standing there with open arms, kisses and hugs. And there were even really tender quiet moments, where it was just a full embrace, where no words could actually be exchanged between the people as to how they felt at that very moment.

For the Rahal family, it was one of those tender, quiet moments.

It was just a sweet moment where the mother just closed her eyes, and she took one of her sons into her arms and she kissed him once on each cheek. And they looked at each other and just didn't even say a word for at least a full minute, until they finally realized that this was the moment that they had been waiting for all these weeks.

KAGAN: Carol, just real quickly, how did these two men end up in the church in the first place?

LIN: They just happened to be there. Both of the brothers were running an errand, actually. The one I was telling you about, the father of this 9-month old baby, is a dental technician, and he was dropping off some equipment near the Church of the Nativity when there was this eruption of gunfire and people running.

And so, you know, as any of us do in a crowd situation, you tend to run with the crowd thinking that it's going to bring you into safety. And where he ended up running was inside the Church of the Nativity.

KAGAN: Very good. Carol Lin, reporting to us from Bethlehem.