The release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons in October 2025 has cast a harsh spotlight on the conditions faced by thousands still held behind bars, as well as the profound losses endured by those returning to a homeland scarred by war. The stories emerging from Gaza and the occupied territories in the aftermath of the ceasefire agreement reveal a pattern of suffering, deprivation, and, for many, irreversible tragedy.
One of the most poignant accounts comes from Mohammed Abu Moussa, a 45-year-old medical technician who was freed after 20 months in Israeli detention. As reported by the Associated Press, Abu Moussa's joy at regaining his freedom was quickly overshadowed by the devastating news that his mother, younger sister Aya, Aya’s children, and several other relatives had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza while he was imprisoned. The airstrike, which struck their shelter in July 2025, was just one of countless attacks that have left families across Gaza shattered.
Abu Moussa’s ordeal began in February 2024 when Israeli forces surrounded Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where he worked and where his family was sheltering. After being called aside at a checkpoint, he was taken for interrogation and subsequently detained without charge. His account of life in prison is harrowing: "Almost all of us soiled ourselves," he recounted, describing how detainees were kept bound for days without access to water or toilets. He spoke of daily beatings, forced kneeling for hours, and widespread scabies infestations left untreated for months. "People were rubbing themselves up against the walls trying to get rid of the itching," he said, adding that requests for medical care were routinely ignored. He witnessed the death of fellow detainee Mohammed al-Astal, who suffered a fatal colon blockage after being denied treatment. "They treated us like animals," Abu Moussa said, his voice breaking with emotion as he recalled the loss of his mother and the devastation awaiting him in Khan Younis, which was left unrecognizable by Israeli bombardment.
Abu Moussa’s story is not unique. According to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS), at least 80 Palestinians have died in Israeli detention since the war against Gaza began in October 2023. The most recent fatality, 69-year-old Kamil Mohammad Mahmoud al-Ajrami, died on October 10, 2025, at Soroka Hospital after being transferred from Naqab Prison, where he had been held in harsh conditions since his abduction by Israeli forces nearly a year earlier. The PPS and other advocacy groups have described this period as the "bloodiest" since 1967, with a total of 317 Palestinian detainees documented to have died in Israeli custody since then.
The organizations also revealed that Israel continues to withhold the bodies of 88 deceased prisoners, including 77 who died since the start of the current conflict. This policy denies families the right to mourn and bury their loved ones, compounding their grief. The Palestine Detainees Studies Center reports that around 60 percent of Palestinian detainees suffer from chronic illnesses, many of which go untreated, leading to deaths both during and after incarceration.
Human rights organizations have consistently warned that Israel is violating the rights and protections afforded to detainees under the Fourth Geneva Convention and international law. The conditions described by former detainees—lack of hygiene, persistent torture, harassment, and medical neglect—have prompted repeated hunger strikes and calls for international intervention. A recent United Nations report cited by AP found that at least 75 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons during the war, with torture and deprivation contributing to these deaths. In one particularly grim case, a 17-year-old who died in March was found to have wasted away from starvation and suffered from colon inflammation and scabies.
The plight of health care workers has also come under scrutiny. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has called for the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Mohammed Obeid, a respected orthopedic surgeon and long-time MSF colleague who was arrested by Israeli forces on October 26, 2024, during a military operation at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. Dr. Obeid has been held without contact with his family for nearly a year, despite his crucial role in providing surgical care amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis. "We are extremely concerned for his safety and well-being," said Dr. Tejshri Shah, MSF general director, adding, "We stand in full solidarity with him and his family, and demand that his rights, dignity, and freedom be restored without further delay." According to the World Health Organization, over 300 health care workers from Gaza have been detained by Israeli forces since October 2023.
The scale of detentions is staggering. As of October 2025, at least 10,400 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons, including 3,300 administrative detainees held without charge or trial. Among them are 320 children and 88 women. Many detainees, like Abu Moussa, were never formally charged with any crime. The practice of administrative detention has long been criticized by international observers as a violation of due process rights.
The political climate surrounding these detentions has become increasingly fraught. In the wake of al-Ajrami’s death, far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to withhold support for government bills unless a law instituting the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners accused of attacks is passed within three weeks. A parliamentary committee approved the bill for a first reading in the Knesset at the end of September 2025, signaling a potential escalation in punitive measures against detainees.
The recent ceasefire agreement saw the release of more than 1,800 Palestinians seized from Gaza during the two-year war, alongside around 250 prisoners convicted over previous decades. While some returned to the occupied West Bank or were exiled abroad, those sent back to Gaza found their homeland transformed by destruction and loss. For many, the joy of release was tempered by the absence of family members killed in the conflict and the devastation wrought upon their communities.
As the stories of returned detainees continue to emerge, they paint a sobering picture of the human cost of prolonged conflict and incarceration. The calls for accountability, justice, and humane treatment echo not only in Gaza and the West Bank but also across international forums, as advocates and families demand an end to the suffering and a restoration of dignity for those still behind bars.