DayofPal– After spending more than three decades in Israeli prisons, Diyaa Al-Agha, Gaza’s longest-serving prisoner, has finally returned home. Arrested at the age of 16, he emerged at 50, having endured 33 years of captivity for resisting the Israeli occupation.
Al-Agha was freed as part of the seventh batch of Palestinian detainees released in the first phase of a prisoner exchange deal between Gaza resistance and Israel.
His return to Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, was met with overwhelming emotion, as family, friends, and neighbors gathered to welcome him back.
Reflecting on his long imprisonment, Al-Agha recounted the suffering and resilience that defined his years behind bars. “I was just a teenager when I was detained,” he told Al Jazeera Mubasher. “I entered at 16 and left at 50 after spending 33 years in captivity.”
Despite the hardship, he remained steadfast, crediting the resilience of the Palestinian people for giving him strength.
“We endured in prison because of our people’s sacrifices. What has happened in Gaza has put Palestine on the right path. Through unity and resistance, our people have endured 15 months of war and have led the way to the liberation of prisoners.”
Al-Agha also revealed the psychological torment inflicted by Israeli authorities, describing how prisoners set for release were subjected to last-minute deception.
“Last week, they took us out of our cells, put us on buses for 15 hours, telling us we were about to be freed, only to send us back, claiming the deal had failed.”
But he remains hopeful. “If the price of my 33 years in prison is the freedom of my people, then it was worth it. Israeli prisons are not a mere detention. They are part of the struggle. But as long as we believe in our cause, we will be free.”
For Al-Agha’s mother, the reunion was a moment she had waited for her entire life. “There are no words to describe my feelings,” she said, overwhelmed with emotion. “I prayed for decades just to see my son again, and Allah granted me this wish.”
Despite his imprisonment, Al-Agha did not let time go to waste. His mother proudly shared that he earned multiple university degrees, including a master’s, while behind bars.
Al-Agha, a member of the Fatah movement, holds the title of Gaza’s longest-serving prisoner. He was the only detainee from Gaza imprisoned before the 1993 Oslo Accords who had not been released in previous deals.
Israeli authorities repeatedly refused to include him in political agreements with the Palestinian Authority and excluded him from Hamas’ 2011 “Shalit Deal”, which saw the release of over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Born in April 1975, Al-Agha was arrested in 1992 for killing an Israeli officer with a farming tool during a resistance operation that was in response to Israeli assaults on the Palestinians. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Now, after 33 years of captivity, he walks free not just as a former prisoner, but as a symbol of Palestinian resilience and the unyielding pursuit of freedom.
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