In the occupied West Bank and Gaza, despite orders from the occupation not to celebrate, jubilant and defiant Palestinians have regularly gathered to greet Palestinian political prisoners the Zionist state has been forced to release from its dungeons. While the Zionist state failed to achieve its war aims after over 16 months of genocide, the joint Palestinian resistance in Gaza has succeeded in winning the release of a significant number of prisoners.
Prisoner exchange
At the start of the war, Hamas offered to release all hostages in exchange for Israel releasing all Palestinian prisoners. On 30 November 2023, the last day of a four day ceasefire, 105 civilian hostages had been released by Hamas, which included 81 Israelis, 23 Thais and one Filipino, for 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
The current prisoner exchange is split into three phases. The first phase, which started on 19 January and lasted six weeks, saw three to six Israeli captives released every weekend for hundreds of Palestinian political prisoners from Zionist prisons. Around 1,900 Palestinian political prisoners were released altogether. This phase alone was the largest release of Palestinian captives since the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange which saw 1,027 Palestinians released from Zionist prisons.
Zionists have seethed over the highly publicised and celebrated release of several high-profile political prisoners. This includes Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) elected representative and communist Khalida Jarrar. She was kidnapped from the West Bank in December 2023, held under administrative detention and kept in solitary confinement for at least six months – doubtless due to her history of organising education for female prisoners during her previous stints in prison. She was released on 20 January from Ayalon Prison and returned to Ramallah to a jubilant crowd.
Imprisoned Palestinian militants serving lengthy sentences for their actions against the occupation have been released. 69-year-old Fatah member Mohammed Al-Tous, the longest held Palestinian prisoner, has been imprisoned since 1985. He was released on 25 January.
Zakaria Zubedidi, 49, was a commander in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs brigades and one of Israel’s ‘most wanted’ for organising audacious attacks within the ’48 border during the Al-Aqsa Intifada (2000-2006). His most recent sentence was handed down in 2019. In 2021, he humiliated the occupation when he and five other Palestinians belonging to Fatah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad broke out of Gilboa Prison by tunnelling out with a spoon. He was released on 30 January 2025 to a crowd of hundreds of cheering Palestinians in Ramallah.
The fact that any prisoners were released at all is an implicit recognition by the Zionist state that Palestinians it imprisons are not criminals or terrorists as it claims but political prisoners. They have now been released as part of a political deal, regardless of whether they were convicted of violent actions, non-violent actions or interned without charge or trial.
Zionist repression
The Zionist state has unleashed a wave of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. The families of freed prisoners have had their homes raided, family members have been handcuffed and flags confiscated. During these raids, the occupation forces have warned families not to celebrate the release of their loved ones.
On 29 January, 12 Palestinians across occupied East Jerusalem were arrested in home raids by the Israeli police for allegedly participating in a rally celebrating the release of Hamas life-sentence prisoner Ashraf Zughayer. The Israeli police used video of Hamas flags being waved at the rally as a pretext for this repression.
Zionist torture and murder
Within the prison walls, Israel has accelerated its campaign of repression, torture and murder. Since 7 October 2023, at least 60 Palestinians have been murdered in custody. 35-year-old Musab Hani Haniyeh is the latest confirmed death. He was kidnapped from Gaza and taken to an Israeli prison. His death was announced on 5 January.
Torture within Zionist prisons[1] and the Sde Teiman concentration camp[2] is systematic and well-documented. Released prisoners have confirmed that they were psychologically and physically tortured until their final moments in custody. Seven prisoners released on 8 February were admitted to hospital requiring urgent medical care. On 15 February, four released prisoners were admitted to hospital in critical condition. Because of the Zionist prison authority’s policy of deliberate starvation, many freed prisoners have returned to their families emaciated.
A 27 February article published by The Guardian has revealed the systematic arrest and torture of healthcare workers from Gaza. Dr Issam Abu Ajwa was snatched from Al-Ahli Arab Hospital and taken to a detention facility in Israel. He was beaten, had his teeth broken, kept tied up for 125 days and interrogators threatened to break his hands so that he couldn’t perform surgery any more. This is only one of many testimonies from released healthcare workers highlighting the nature of the Zionist prisons.
Overall, the British media has paid little attention to the condition of freed prisoners, the testimony of rampant torture or the murders in custody since 7 October 2023. Instead it has focused on the ‘ordeal’ of a select few freed Israeli hostages. Despite Gaza being bombed and under siege, Israeli hostages in Gaza were treated far better than Palestinians in Israeli detention. Media hypocrisy has never been clearer.
Resistance until victory
Released from prison into the ruins of Gaza on 30 January, defiant and now clutching a rifle and surrounded by press and his comrades, PFLP militant Mohammed Ghali declared:
‘The resistance has not ended. Netanyahu and Ben Gvir are deluded when they claim the resistance is over. The resistance has not ended. Here it stands, unbroken. Long live the resistance. Long live Palestine, free and Arab.’
The Israeli government and its principal imperialist backer, the US, are attempting to sabotage the ceasefire agreement. Just three weeks into the ceasefire, Hamas was forced to temporarily suspend the release of any more hostages in Gaza due to repeated Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement. After the resistance released six Israeli captives on 22 February, the Zionist state refused to honour its side of the agreement when it delayed the release of over 600 Palestinian prisoners. It cited ‘humiliating hostage ceremonies’ as a reason for this. Several freed Palestinians have been deported from Palestine altogether and Israel has a history of re-imprisoning Palestinians it has been forced to release. Both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump have announced their intentions to ‘destroy Hamas’ and ethnically cleanse Gaza. There is no choice but resistance.
The resistance in Gaza has pushed for the release of all Palestinian prisoners, regardless of their political affiliations. Key priorities for release include Fatah member Marwan Barghouti, PFLP General-Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat and Hamas member Abdullah Barghouti.
Freed prisoners have openly expressed support for the armed resistance, recognising that it is through their efforts that their freedom has been won, a sentiment echoed by Palestinians celebrating the release of their prisoners. The road to Palestinian liberation runs through the prisons. In Britain, the Palestine solidarity movement must unconditionally support the Palestinian resistance – for this, solidarity with political prisoners is central.
Free all Palestinian prisoners!
Victory to the Palestinian resistance!
Kotsai Sigauke
[1] See FRFI 301 – Zionist prisons a ticking time bomb
[2] See FRFI 299 – Free the Palestinian hostages!
