Palestinians report witnessing ‘torture, beating, humiliation’ in Israeli jails.
Hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails were released in Gaza as part of a ceasefire agreement, many showing signs of emaciation and abuse.
More than 600 Palestinians were released on Thursday, shortly after Israel announced that Hamas had handed over coffins containing the bodies of four captives. Israel delayed the release of two Palestinian women and 44 children.
This was the final scheduled exchange as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.
Several Palestinians were taken by ambulance to the European Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza due to the severity of their injuries. Many others were sent to Egypt and the occupied West Bank.
Alaa al-Bayari, a Palestinian released to Gaza City, told Al Jazeera that he witnessed “torture, beating, humiliation, and everything you can imagine” while in Israeli prison. He met his one-year-old daughter for the first time.
“We were kept naked, water was thrown on us, and then they used electricity” to torture, he said.
Yahya Shrida, a Palestinian prisoner released to Ramallah, described Israeli prisons as graveyards.
“We have been taken out of suffering. It was as if we were dug out of our own graves. No prisoner has experienced having their release delayed twice,” he told Reuters.
“What we have been through is a situation that mountains can’t bear. It is very hard to explain; it is very hard to talk about what we have endured.”
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Gaza, said some released Palestinians had limbs amputated, while others suffered severe injuries due to Israeli torture in detention.
“Many family members broke down in tears after seeing their loved ones,” Abu Azzoum said, adding that the released prisoners “confirmed they witnessed some of the worst methods of torture at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces.”
Footage shared online by Quds News Network showed family members and released Palestinians weeping upon their arrival in Gaza.
Thabet Abu Khater, 66, arrived at Gaza’s European Hospital missing a leg and in critical condition after being released in the latest batch of the prisoner exchange between the Palestinian resistance and Israel.
His release, along with that of hundreds of other detainees, was… pic.twitter.com/lPkbANXNYd
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) February 27, 2025
One clip shows a family member mourning the emaciated condition of their released relative, exclaiming, “Look at the difference, oh my God!”
In the West Bank city of Jenin, footage showed freed prisoner Louay Saabneh meeting his son Jabal for the first time after several years of incarceration.
Earlier, Hamas handed over the bodies of four captives to Israel via the Red Cross.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog identified the bodies as Ohad Yahalomi, Tsachi Idan, Itzik Elgarat, and Shlomo Mantzur.
In a statement, the Palestinian group reaffirmed its “full commitment” to the ceasefire agreement and its readiness to enter negotiations on the second phase.
It also stated that attempts by Israeli authorities to obstruct the release of prisoners had “failed,” adding that this meant they had “no choice” but to begin negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire deal.
The group called on other countries to “stop their double standards” in their discourse regarding Israeli captives while ignoring the abuse Palestinian prisoners endure.
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