Freed Palestinian women recount abuses in Israeli detention

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian women released as part of a prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas have revealed severe mistreatment by Israeli authorities during their detention.

The accounts shed light on the struggles faced by detainees in Israeli prisons and the abuse they endured before their release.

Raghad Amro, 23, described the harrowing treatment she and others experienced, saying: “We were dragged by our hair and beaten. Israeli guards did not even allow us to raise our heads.”

She also recounted being held for hours in metal-caged buses before being transferred to Ofer Prison, where detainees were subjected to further humiliation and violence.

Similarly, Yasemin Abu Surur, 27, who had been held under the illegal and inhuman “administrative detention” policy, said women were completely isolated from the outside world in the days leading up to their release.

“We didn’t even know that today would be our day of freedom,” she expressed.

According to the administrative detention policy, people can be detained on the basis of suspicion alone, without warrant, without access to a trial and for an unspecified duration.

Both women highlighted the severe conditions in Israeli prisons, including lack of adequate food, physical abuse, and medical neglect.

– ‘We were dragged by our hair’

Amro pointed out the contrast between the treatment of Palestinian detainees and Israeli captives, stressing: “While Palestinian resistance fighters offered gifts to Israeli women captives, we were dragged by our hair.”

The release of the Palestinian detainees occurred under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement brokered by Qatar.

As part of the first phase, 90 Palestinian women and children were freed, while three Israeli women were handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas.

The ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal took effect on Sunday, suspending Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

The 3-phase deal includes a prisoner exchange and sustained calm, aiming for a permanent truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Nearly 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 110,700 others injured in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since October 2023, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli war has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis.

In November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.