Israel Releases Palestinian Prisoners from Gaza Showing Signs of Torture and Starvation

Gaza (Quds News Network)- The Israeli occupation released dozens of Palestinian prisoners on Thursday, many of whom once again showed clear signs of torture and starvation.

About 80 prisoners were set free at the Israeli-controlled Kissufim crossing in eastern Khan Younis in southern Gaza, local sources said.

Sources added at least 10 of the freed prisoners were in poor health condition and were hospitalized at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah.

A freed prisoner, Fayez Ayoub, said he was detained by the Israeli forces on November 6.

“Every day, starting at 5am, they would wake us up, and from 7am until 11pm, we were forced to stand without sitting or moving,” Ayoub told Al Jazeera.

“Sometimes, they made us kneel for two or three hours straight. Anyone who moved was beaten. After that, they made us stand with our arms raised above our heads. If your arms dropped, they would beat you.

“The forms of abuse were endless.”

“Every week, they would assault us and beat us with metal rods. Our chests and backbones are broken. Our knees too. The situation was unbearable – complete humiliation. There was no sitting, no sleeping, no food – nothing.”

“All we endured was pain and torture. Sometimes, we would fall asleep at midnight, only to be woken up at 1am and sprayed with gas and powder. Look at our clothes. We’ve been completely degraded.”

Marah Ayoub, the daughter of Fayez, said she hadn’t seen her father since the start of the war. “I’m very happy that my father has been released, but I didn’t expect to see him like this. He wasn’t like that. He’s changed a lot. This isn’t the father I know.”

A heart-touching moment | Palestinian girl Marah Ayoup reunites with her father, who was released today from an Israeli prison along with 10 other detainees. They had been abducted during Israel's ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Marah has not seen her father since the brutal… pic.twitter.com/NNYuu0Lpiq

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 10, 2025

Israel’s Torture of Palestinians

Israeli occupation authorities have been accused of torturing Palestinian detainees. This includes being handcuffed and shackled 24 hours a day, seven days a week – even while sleeping, eating, and using the restroom. Testimonies also describe regular beatings by guards, extreme overcrowding, humiliation, and inadequate hygiene.

In August 2024, the Israeli rights group B’Tselem accused Israeli occupation authorities of systematically abusing Palestinians in “torture camps”, subjecting them to severe violence and sexual assault.

Its report, titled “Welcome to Hell”, is based on 55 testimonies from former detainees from the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and 1948-occupied territories. The overwhelming majority of these detainees were held without trial.

Israel’s torture of Palestinians has resulted in the deaths of over 61 known detainees since 7 October 2023, the day Israeli laumched its ongoing genocide in Gaza, in detention facilities.

Among them are at least 40 detainees from Gaza, the highest number in history, making this the “bloodiest stage in the history of the prisoner movement,” according to the Palestinian Detainees’ Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS).

“Every time prisoners are released, we find the prisoners’ bodies reflecting the level of crimes committed against them,” the PPS said in a statement.

“Following the release of the seven batches from the first phase of the prisoner exchange deal, which included 1,777 Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons, the released detainees have once again revealed the extent of unprecedented torture crimes,” the group said.

“These include medical abuses, starvation, and brutal beatings that continued until the last days of their release. These actions represent a long-standing, systematic history of crimes perpetrated by the occupation, which escalated dangerously since the start of the genocide campaign. These crimes led to the martyrdom of dozens of detainees during the bloodiest period in the history of the prisoner movement,” the group added.