Released Gaza prisoners joyous despite torture and loss

After being detained for a year and two months, Ahmed Dababesh was finally released from an Israeli prison. He eagerly searched for his wife and daughter, the horrors he experienced in prison having made him almost forget what they looked like.

Last Saturday afternoon, as part of the first phase of an exchange agreement with Hamas, Israel released 111 Palestinian prisoners from the Gaza Strip. These released prisoners were arrested after October 7, 2023, and their release was carried out along with another 110 prisoners, including some who had been sentenced to life imprisonment. This release occurred after Hamas released three Israeli prisoners and provided the name of a sick Israeli prisoner.

According to Israeli data, more than 3,000 Gazan Palestinians have been detained since October 7, and they are held in multiple prisons, including secret facilities established after the war. Dababesh quickly boarded a bus that would transport the released prisoners to Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. He rushed towards the gathered residents, looking for his wife and daughter, but they were not there.

His father and brothers were waiting for him. They embraced him tearfully and then told him that 20 family members, including his wife and daughter, Gina, had been killed in Israeli bombings since his arrest. Dababesh broke down on the spot, crying and asking to see their pictures. “I thought they would be the first to greet me. I had imagined my child innocently running towards me and kissing me. The horrors I saw in prison made me forget what she looked like,” he told Middle East Eye.

In prison, Dababesh, like all Gazan detainees, suffered physical and mental torture. He endured lengthy interrogations and was subjected to torture in extremely cold and hot environments. "For six months since my arrest, we were kept handcuffed and blindfolded, even when going to the bathroom," he said. "Even in the freezing cold and frost, we were wearing summer shirts in the Negev prison."

In terms of psychological torture, prison guards showed him photos of his destroyed home but refused to tell him the fate of his family. He also witnessed the torture of many other prisoners. “Prisoners were taken to special torture rooms and trampled on the cobblestone floor, causing physical injuries. Many prisoners died as a result of torture,” he added.

Riyad Dahnon from Beit Lahia was released in the recent prisoner exchange after being detained for more than a year. He was detained at the Khalifa bin Zayed School after being displaced. He was visibly unable to walk. When asked why, he revealed burns and ulcers on his legs, the result of the torture he had endured. “The prison guards burned us with fire, heated sharp knives, and used them to burn our skin. I have it all over my body. They heated iron pieces and forced us to sit on them,” he added.

The food provided to the prisoners was terrible. Dahnon described it as "chicken feed," a small box of uncooked white rice, distributed to prisoners throughout the day. "I weighed 79 kilograms before my arrest. Today, I weigh 46 kilograms. The food is poor, the treatment is poor, and the torture is unjustified. I left my fellow prisoners behind, and my heart cries for them with sadness."

Dr. Muhammad Al-Aklah, one of those released, appeared exhausted and told Middle East Eye about his year of detention. "Israel is a lawless country," he said. "We were in a grave, and now we are out. All I can say is this—beatings, hanging, torture, breaking our limbs, and endless insults. I was in a grave, not a prison."

Prisoners did not know how long they would be in prison, whether they would be sentenced, or what charges would be fabricated against them. Many of the released learned with grief that their families had been killed in Israeli airstrikes during their detention. They left prison hoping that their physical wounds and visible torture scars would heal, but instead, they encountered deeper pain that would take a long time to heal.