4 Palestinians launched as a part of a ceasefire deal are in essential situation and have been hospitalised within the occupied West Financial institution metropolis of Ramallah, in line with the Palestinian Purple Crescent.
Israel launched 369 Palestinians on Saturday in alternate for 3 captives in Gaza.
Whereas the Israeli captives have typically appeared in good situation all through the ceasefire alternate since final month, many Palestinians appeared to have misplaced an unlimited quantity of weight whereas in custody and a few have been seen struggling to stroll resulting from their poor bodily situation and bodily torture.
Some have described the horrors they confronted whereas in Israeli jails, the place most of them have been imprisoned with none expenses.
That is Palestinian engineer Iyad Abed from Gaza, kidnapped throughout the Israeli genocide, proven earlier than and after being freed as a part of the fifth batch of the prisoner alternate deal between the resistance and Israel. pic.twitter.com/zfMky6MYsq
— Quds Information Community (@QudsNen) February 15, 2025
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Workplace stated that the situation wherein the prisoners have been launched reveals the “extent of the crimes and violations contained in the prisons”.
One launched Palestinian, Amir Abu Radah, advised Al Jazeera that he spent 18 months in Israel’s Nafha desert jail, the place authorities minimize water and electrical energy.
“Our situation in jail was extraordinarily troublesome, and nobody might bear it. For a yr and a half, now we have not had any technique of communication, and we have been remoted from the world,” he stated.
“We have been nearly useless…”
A freed Palestinian detainee, who was launched as we speak as a part of the alternate deal, speaks concerning the immense struggling of Palestinians in Israeli captivity. pic.twitter.com/B4VSi5XoVf
— Quds Information Community (@QudsNen) February 15, 2025
Hazem Rajab, one other Palestinian freed within the newest alternate, advised Al Jazeera of the inhumane remedy he suffered since his arrest by Israeli forces in December 2023, two months after the warfare started.
“The Israelis advised us ‘Welcome to hell’. It actually was hell,” Rajab recalled. “From the primary day, we have been crushed up badly. The beatings have been brutal, robust and insufferable.”
In accordance with Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, Palestinians spoke of beatings and mistreatment, even within the final hours earlier than their launch.
“Palestinians launched from Israeli captivity are in very dangerous form. They converse of malnutrition, of going hungry for the previous 15 months, of being disadvantaged of even hygiene merchandise, solely being allowed to bathe each 10 days,” Odeh stated.
“Their well being is clearly ailing due to these months of mistreatment.”
Whereas Abu Radah and Rajab have been arrested extra not too long ago, Mohammed el-Halabi, the previous head of World Imaginative and prescient in Gaza, was imprisoned for nearly 9 years earlier than being launched on Saturday.
“My case was a high-profile case, and I used to be convicted with no proof. They wished to make use of me to undermine worldwide help to Gaza,” el-Halabi, who was accused by Israel of supporting Hamas, advised Al Jazeera.
El-Halabi, bodily weakened and shedding a lot weight whereas incarcerated, stated he was subjected to bodily and psychological torture, which worsened after the beginning of the warfare on Gaza.
“Hunger occurred day-after-day, and we solely had a low-quality meal as soon as a day. I used to be 95kg [209 pounds] after I went to jail. Now I weigh 45kg [100 pounds].”
For the reason that begin of the ceasefire final month, 24 captives from Gaza and 985 Palestinian detainees have been launched, in line with the Worldwide Committee of the Purple Cross (ICRC), which has helped facilitate the alternate.