the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Feb 17, 2025
This article is translated from the February 14 issue, #2950 of Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle), the paper of the Trotskyist group of that name active in France.
When Israeli hostages were released on February 8, their families were shocked at their obvious poor health. It’s understandable after 15 months of captivity in the impossible living conditions in Gaza under constant bombardment. But the media made no attempt to be fair.
A deafening silence continues to reign among media commentators. They hardly mention the human, food, and health catastrophe that Gazans who survived the bombing have experienced and continue to experience. Hunger, deprivation of water and medicine, and lack of hygiene and sleep were the everyday life for 15 months for the two million Palestinians of Gaza.
Many of the Palestinian prisoners Israel released in exchange were also prematurely aged, weakened, or sick, depending on how long they were detained in Israel’s jails. Of the 183 released on February 8—some requiring stretchers—18 were serving life sentences and 54 were serving long-term sentences. Seven had to be hospitalized immediately due to the mistreatment they suffered in prison. In addition, seven other prisoners with life sentences were deported to Egypt.
Al Jazeera denounced the critical condition of many of the released prisoners, due to “starvation and dehydration as well as deliberate medical neglect which continued throughout their years of imprisonment. Their suffering was not limited to these measures. They also suffered physical and psychological torture. Several released prisoners reported being subjected to severe beatings until the last moments before their release, and being deprived of the most basic necessities of human dignity.”
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society denounced the Israeli army’s searches and attacks committed the night before the release against families waiting for the detainees in Bethlehem, Hebron and Kobar in the West Bank.
Their release does not end the harassment to which these Palestinians are subjected. Many say they have received threats from Israeli intelligence services and summons for interrogation. The Zionist state only gives them supervised, conditional, and probably short-lived freedom.
Netanyahu’s government held more than 10,000 Palestinians before the ceasefire and prisoner releases. More than 3,300 were in administrative detention, without having been charged with anything or put on trial. One such prisoner was Dr. Hossam Abou Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza. He was arrested after Israeli armed forces destroyed the building where he still provided care. He is still detained. His relatives have no news of him.