DaysofPal- 183 Palestinian prisoners have been released from Israeli prisons as part of the most recent phase of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. This is the fifth exchange in the ongoing prisoner swap arrangement.
The release includes 111 detainees from Gaza who were arrested after the events of October 7, 2023, 54 prisoners with high sentences, and 18 prisoners sentenced to life in prison, according to the Prisoners’ Media Office. Many of the released prisoners have reported severe mistreatment and inhumane conditions during their time in Israeli custody.
The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed that seven of the freed prisoners required immediate hospitalization due to serious health conditions. Two buses carrying released detainees arrived at the European Hospital in Khan Younis via the Kerem Shalom crossing, as reported by the Prisoners Media Office.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, an advocacy group, expressed grave concern over the well-being of the prisoners, stating that most of those released suffer from significant health issues.
“Today, after 183 prisoners were released in the fifth batch of the first phase, the prisoners’ bodies and their health conditions, and the need for some of them to be transferred to the hospital, reflected the level of atrocities that the prisoners were exposed to over the past period in the occupation prisons,” the organization stated.
The group also accused Israel of engaging in systematic mistreatment not only against detainees but also their families, referring to it as “organized terrorism.”
Several released prisoners spoke about the conditions they endured, describing their imprisonment as a form of “slow death.” Shadi Fakhri Al-Barghouti, one of the freed detainees, shared his joy at reuniting with his family after years of suffering in Israeli jails. He recounted extreme deprivation, including lack of adequate food and medical care, physical and psychological torture, and frequent raids on prisoners’ rooms where their belongings were confiscated.
Al-Barghouti called for greater attention to be given to the plight of Palestinian prisoners still held in Israeli jails, urging the international community to take action.
The ceasefire agreement, which came into effect on January 19, has temporarily halted Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of over 47,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The war has left much of the enclave in ruins, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=60505
