Palestinian freed from Israeli prison dies from torture-related complications

By Aysar Alais and Rania Abu Shamala

RAMALLAH, Palestine/ISTANBUL (AA) – Palestinian ex-detainee Mutasim Raddad passed away Thursday evening, months after being released and deported as part of a prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel.

In a joint statement, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society announced the “martyrdom of freed and deported prisoner Mutasim Raddad, 43, from Tulkarem in the northern West Bank.”

The statement described Raddad as one of the most critical medical cases in Israeli prisons, suffering “multiple layers of medical abuse” from his arrest in 2006 until his release in the seventh phase of the February 2025 exchange deal, during which he was deported to Egypt along with dozens of ill prisoners.

It added that in the final months of his detention, Raddad was subjected to deliberate mistreatment “intended to kill him.” He was removed from the Ramla prison clinic and transferred to Ofer Prison, where he was held in a cell that lacked the most basic humane conditions, leading to a further deterioration in his health.

Raddad had written a powerful message near the end of his detention, saying: “I feel inside that I am the next martyr,” expressing the depth of his suffering and a premonition of what would follow.

According to data from the Palestinian Prisoners Club, Raddad suffered from severe chronic intestinal inflammation (colitis), high blood pressure and heart failure.

Palestinian human rights groups have long reported systematic violations against detainees in Israeli prisons, including deliberate medical neglect, physical and psychological abuse, and the denial of necessary treatment — particularly for chronic and critical conditions.

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has repeatedly boasted about the harsh measures imposed on Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and has appeared in video footage overseeing mistreatment and calling for the execution of detainees.

In the first phase of the ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement that took effect on Jan. 19, Israel released hundreds of detainees that it had arrested from Gaza in exchange for Israeli captives held in the enclave.

Currently, Israel holds approximately 9,900 Palestinians in its prisons, including around 400 children and 29 women, based on official Palestinian data. The numbers exclude thousands of Palestinians subjected to enforced disappearance, particularly from Gaza.

More than 52,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants last November 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.