More than 600 Palestinian detainees were released from Israeli prisons on Thursday.
This follows several delays by Israel in the release of more than 640 prisoners, according to figures from the Palestinian Prisoners Association (PPS) and the committee on detainees and former appellants’ issues, which was originally scheduled for Saturday.
Approximately 450 people were released to Gaza and immediately needed medical care upon arrival and were administered to a European hospital in Karnnis, south of the besieged enclave.
More than 15 inmates serving life or long sentences were among the released people, including 40 people who were released on the West Bank.
Some prisoners who were given life sentences were also expelled as part of a group of 97 sent to Egypt, including the world’s longest-serving political prisoners.
Their release took place when Hamas handed over the four bodies of Israeli prisoners to the Red Cross.
Israeli authorities confirmed that their identities are Itzik Elgarat, Ohad Yahalomi, Shlomo Mantzur and Tsahi Idan.
Despite the joys felt throughout the occupied West Bank and Gaza, many released detainees showed signs of pain, abuse, starvation and medical negligence in Israel-run prisons and detention centres.
Many of them saw doctors shortly after their release.
In one clip, a former detainee on a bus entering the Gaza Strip warns about the condition of those remaining in prisons, saying, “Prisoners (within Israeli prisons) are at risk. Please save them.”
In another clip, the same Palestinians explain the suffering they endured.
“We couldn’t sleep, we were exhausted. They tortured us in an Israeli prison. They tortured us and broke us. We couldn’t eat,” he said, adding that they had been waiting on the bus from 7am.
Another Palestinian described his detention as similar to Nazism and the horrors of hell.
“We were in hell and came out of hell,” he said.
One case of serious health complications at the time of release was that of Kazem Zawahreh, who had been in coma for several months. Local reports say he was soon transferred to a medical facility on the West Bank.
Other clips showed released prisoners, including those who had been amputated, who were unable to walk due to injuries.
Ramp-prolonged torture has been recorded in Israeli civil and military detention facilities in recent months, with at least 60 known Palestinians dead since October 7, 2023, including at least 39 from Gaza.
The most recent victim was 34-year-old Raafat Adnan Abdul Aziz Abu Fanouneh, who was taken prisoner from Gaza, according to the Directorate of Civil Affairs, detainees and former detainees affairs ministry, PPS.
Thursday’s exchange marked the final swap agreed between Israel and Hamas as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement. This is the end of Saturday.
Discussions for the second phase, including the release of Palestinian and Israeli prisoners, were scheduled for earlier this month, but so far, no progress has been made.