Since Monday morning, dozens of Palestinians have flocked to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, after the occupation authorities released 50 prisoners who had been arrested over the past months.

The families asked every released prisoner about the fate of their captive or missing children inside Israeli prisons.

The released prisoner, Faraj Al-Samuni, narrated shocking and horrific details of his experience inside Israeli prisons, and his unprecedented suffering, as he described it, before the occupation authorities released him this morning.

Al-Samuni said that the Israeli army arrested him on November 16, 2023, near the Netzarim checkpoint (central Gaza Strip), along with two of his brothers and his cousin.

Regarding his detention experience, Al-Samuni said that it was very bad, as “we were beaten day and night,” in addition to “moving between cells, and diseases that spread among the prisoners. Each tent held 30 prisoners, and the food provided to us was very little, and most of the young men were fasting and did not eat.” ".

In his testimony, he touched on the conditions of the detained doctors and said, "We saw prisoners from the medical teams inside the prisons, including Dr. Ahmed Muhanna, director of Al Awda Hospital, Dr. Abu Yaqoub Mahdi, and Dr. Ayman Skafi. May God be their helper. They are living in a torment that only God knows about."

Beating and torture

Al-Samuni said that he was also subjected to psychological torture, as the occupation authorities would inform him inside the prisons that the army had killed his family.

Zahra, the daughter of the freed prisoner, spoke about her father’s return after an arrest that lasted nearly 8 months. She said, “After this wait, my father returned to me fine. He was beaten and tortured. My father’s weight was 90 kilograms. Now when I put my hand on his body, I felt the bones of his body. I don’t know.” How could he bear it?

As for Al-Samouni’s mother, despite her joy, there is still sadness in her heart, especially since two other of her sons are still inside Israeli prisons. She said that her sons “were arrested at the death checkpoint (Nitzarim), which we live near, and we lost 30 people in the war in 2008, and now they have arrested 3 of them.” My children, and the occupation forces were torturing my children and informing them that they had killed their families.”

This morning, the Israeli occupation authorities released about 50 prisoners from Gaza through the Kissufim checkpoint, east of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

The occupation stated that those released arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the city of Deir Al-Balah (central) and Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Yunis (south).

Among those released was the director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, Doctor Muhammad Abu Salamiya, who was arrested by Israeli forces on November 23, along with a number of medical personnel, as they were heading via Salah al-Din Street, east of Gaza City, to the south of the Strip, after the Israeli army attacked Al-Shifa Hospital at the time.