Israel releases 9 Palestinians from Gaza after months of harsh detention

By Ramzi Mahmud and Ikram Kouachi

GAZA CITY, Palestine/ANKARA (AA) - The Israeli army on Friday released nine Palestinians from the Gaza Strip who appeared exhausted after months of detention under harsh conditions.

Medical sources told Anadolu that the freed detainees were taken to Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza for medical examination following their release through the Kissufim checkpoint southeast of the central governorate.

Red Cross vehicles typically transport Palestinians released by Israel to hospitals in the Gaza Strip, the sources said. Some of the freed detainees appeared physically exhausted and weak after months of imprisonment.

While no direct statements were obtained about their conditions during detention, previously released prisoners reported suffering from malnutrition and injuries caused by severe physical torture in Israeli jails.

They stressed that detention conditions in Israeli prisons and interrogation centers do not meet the minimum standards of human rights.

From time to time, Israel releases Palestinian detainees who were held during the ongoing genocidal campaign it has carried out in Gaza for nearly two years.

Previous statements from the Palestinian Prisoner Society indicated that thousands of Gazans have been detained amid strict secrecy and enforced disappearance.

The society added that detainees are subjected to harsh and terrifying detention conditions intended to inflict maximum harm.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has carried out a genocidal assault on Gaza, killing more than 65,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced, and famine has claimed the lives of at least 435 Palestinians, including 147 children.