A severely malnourished Gazan teacher released by Israel says he was subjected to ‘indescribable’ torture while in captivity.
Ibrahim Mohammad Al-Shawish was one of 183 prisoners released from Israeli jails on Saturday as part of the ceasefire deal.
He was detained by IDF soldiers on December 2023, around two months after the October 7 attacks by Hamas, and the retaliatory Israeli invasion of Gaza.
Shocking before and after photos of Ibrahim show the extreme amount of weight he lost during his time in jail.
His previously full and healthy face now looks skeletal, with heavily sunken cheeks.
Speaking from a hospital bed, the Palestinian said he was arrested at a displacement shelter in northern Gaza and initially held in barracks.
‘These barracks had forms of torture that were indescribable, indescribable, indescribable,’ he said in a video shared on X.
Ibrahim spoke from a hospital bed (Picture: X/@IamIbrahim21)
‘For 45 days I was blindfolded and on my knees, in the same posture one would pray to God Almighty. Blindfolded and shackled.’
Ibrahim, who comes from Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, said he was then taken to Al-Naqab Prison in the Negev in Israel, where he and other prisoners were tortured with electric shocks and dogs.
It is not clear what charges Ibrahim was arrested on.
Several other Palestinian prisoners, who were taken in buses to the West Bank and Gaza, were also in poor health.
They were released around the same time as three Israeli hostages who had been held captive by Hamas since the attacks on October 7 2023.
Eli Sharabi, 52, Ohad ben Ami, 56, and Or Levy, 34, also looked painfully thin as they were led on stage by Hamas militants in central Gaza before being handed over to the Red Cross.
They were later flown by the IDF to meet their families in Israel.
The British family of Eli – whose wife and two teenage daughters were killed on October 7 – said they were overjoyed and relieved to see him freed, but concerned at his ‘sunken’ appearance.
His brother-in-law, Stephen Brisley, who lives in Bridgend, Wales, told the Guardian: ‘You can see the clothes are hanging off of him. You can see his face was gone. The spark and the light has gone from his eyes. His cheeks are sunken.’
‘It’s a bittersweet day because we don’t know, other than the fact that he’s alive, exactly what state he’s in physically and mentally.’
A freed Palestinian prisoner in Ramallah waves after being released from an Israeli jail (Picture: Reuters)
Abdullah al-Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, said seven of those released were taken to hospital and added: ‘All the prisoners who were released today are in need of medical care, treatment and examinations as a result of the brutality they were subjected to during the past months.’
In Ramallah in the West Bank, one prisoner was helped off the bus in the arms of a medic, while another held his oxygen bottle, reports AFP.
Despite the condition of many of the inmates, some of whom have never been formally charged or convicted, there were joyous reunions with loved ones.
A crowd of hundreds were waiting for the Ramallah bus, with many waving Palestinian flags and wearing keffiyeh scarves.
The man hugs a loved one, surrounded by a jubilant crowd (Picture: Ismael Ahmad/UPI/Shutterstock)
Stepping off the bus, the prisoners were greeted by cheers, claps and chants, before several embraced their families in tears.
Earlier, Israeli military had said in a statement ‘that celebrations and processions in support of terrorism are prohibited during the release of the terrorists’.
A father of one of the released prisoners, Shadi Barghouti, said Israeli soldiers stormed his family home in the occupied West Bank village of Kobar, warning him not to celebrate his son’s release.
‘They entered after midnight, smashed everything, took me into a side room and beat me before leaving,’ Fakhri Barghouti said.
‘I was taken to the hospital, where they found that I had a broken rib.’
When asked about about Barghouti’s allegations and the raid in Kobar village, the military said it was ‘not aware of such an incident involving violence during the forces’ activity in the area overnight as claimed’.
Prisoners’ families have been told by Israel not to celebrate their release (Picture: AFP or licensors)
A freed prisoner in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza holds a young child (Picture: AFP or licensors)
Despite the warning, a jubilant crowd lifted Fakhri onto their shoulders after his son was released.
The father shed tears of joy, but could also be seen grimacing in pain due to his injuries.
Shadi, 47, had been imprisoned since 2003 and was serving a 27-year sentence for weapons possession, membership in an illegal organisation and complicity in murder, according to Israel’s justice ministry.
Speaking after his release, he said: ‘We always dreamed that this would happen, that one day the prison director would be forced to open the gates.’
A Palestinian prisoners walks with his mother upon arrival at the European Hospital in Khan Yunis (Picture: AFP or licensors)
A freed prisoner embraces another man after arriving in Khan Yunis (Picture: AFP or licensors)
A jubilant family reunion in Khan Yunis (Picture: AFP or licensors)
In the crowd, Abbas al-Sharbati was waiting with relatives for his cousin Yasser al-Sharbati’s release.
Arrested in 2003, Yasser, 53, was set to meet his grown-up children who were babies when he was detained, including his 23-year-old daughter, who is now married.
Yasser’s family was also told not to celebrate his return.
‘The occupation warned us not to display any signs of celebration when welcoming the prisoner,” Abbas al-Sharbati said.
‘We have informed all our family members, children, and young men that we will avoid any festivities to ensure everyone’s safety. We don’t want any problems for Yasser or for us.’
Earlier, Israeli soldiers had distributed fliers in the villages of the released prisoners, warning in Arabic that ‘We will visit you at every celebration of the release of prisoners, whatever it may be. You have been warned’.
Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi looking malnourished just before he’s released by Hamas
(Picture: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Ohad Ben Ami is escorted to the Red Cross as he’s released by Hamas (Picture: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Israeli Or Levy is reunited with his family (Pictures: via Reuters)
Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has angrily described the condition of the hostages as a crime against humanity.
Any action against Hamas, however, could threaten the ceasefire, something families of the remaining hostages are wary of.
As part of the ceasefire, which began on January 19, it was agreed all 33 Israeli hostages, plus 1,900 Palestinian prisoners would be released.
So far 21 Israeli hostages and 754 Palestinian prisoners have been freed.
Around 1,300 people died in the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel, while more than 47,700 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in Gaza. At least 3,000 were also killed by Israeli forces in Lebanon.
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