Released Gaza Detainees Describe Catastrophic Torture in Israeli Prisons
Prisoners report brutal beatings, disfigurement, and psychological torture; families welcome them amid joy mixed with deep pain
Palestine, PUREWILAYAH.COM - Previously detained Palestinians released from Israeli prisons as part of the “Third Al-Aqsa Flood Exchange” have revealed harrowing accounts of their treatment, describing their condition as “catastrophic and inhumane.”
According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office, many of the freed detainees returned with severe physical disabilities, psychological trauma, and visible marks of prolonged torture.
Witnesses reported that a number of the released prisoners arrived without legs, others in wheelchairs, and many with emaciated bodies covered in bruises and swelling, bearing the scars of years of abuse.
“A Final Beating Before Freedom”
In an official statement, the Prisoners’ Media Office confirmed that Israeli prison authorities subjected detainees to four consecutive days of severe beatings before their release — described cynically as a “farewell gift.”
“Their frail bodies were swollen with bruises. They were not left for a moment without beatings, threats, and humiliation,” the statement affirmed.
Several freed detainees revealed that they faced direct threats against their children and wives, with guards falsely informing them that their entire families had been killed during the war.
One prisoner recounted that Israeli jailers repeatedly struck his existing injury, deliberately breaking his arm “five times” — a chilling testament to the brutality inside Israeli detention centers.
Mass Release Amid Pain and Joy
On Monday, Israeli authorities released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire-linked exchange agreement — just hours after Al-Qassam Brigades handed over 20 Israeli captives alive to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City and Khan Younis.
Thousands of Palestinians across Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem gathered to welcome the freed detainees in emotional scenes marked by tears, celebration, and grief. Families embraced their loved ones — many unrecognizable due to extreme weight loss and injuries — in moments filled with both joy and anguish after two relentless years of genocide and siege.
Scale of the Release
The exchange included:
1,716 prisoners from the Gaza Strip
250 life-sentenced prisoners from the West Bank and Jerusalem
Additional detainees expected to be transferred abroad under special arrangements
“Unlawful Combatants” – A Dangerous Classification
Israeli prison authorities had previously designated detainees from Gaza as “unlawful combatants,” placing them outside the standard legal framework and stripping them of basic protections.
Under this classification:
2,673 prisoners were registered from Gaza alone
This figure excludes hundreds held in military camps under secret detention
The same category is also applied to Arab detainees from Lebanon and Syria
Human rights organizations warn that this classification enabled systematic torture, enforced disappearance, and denial of legal rights, in violation of the Geneva Conventions.
A Wound That Demands Accountability
Advocacy groups are now urging international legal bodies to investigate the treatment of Gaza detainees, describing it as part of a broader pattern of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Despite their release, many former prisoners face a lifelong struggle — physically broken, psychologically scarred, yet steadfast in their conviction.
Their return is not only a moment of freedom, but a testament to resilience — and a call for justice that remains unanswered. (PW)