Released Palestinians Reveal Conditions in Israeli Prisons after Oct. 7

Raghad Al-Fanni (center) was released from Israeli prison during an exchange deal with the Hamas movement. (AFP)
Raghad Al-Fanni (center) was released from Israeli prison during an exchange deal with the Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Released Palestinians Reveal Conditions in Israeli Prisons after Oct. 7

Raghad Al-Fanni (center) was released from Israeli prison during an exchange deal with the Hamas movement. (AFP)
Raghad Al-Fanni (center) was released from Israeli prison during an exchange deal with the Hamas movement. (AFP)

Raghad Al-Fanni did not expect to be among the liberated Palestinian women, as part of the first phase of the exchange deal between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 24.

The 25-year-old woman from the city of Tulkarm was arrested by the Israeli authorities in Oct. 2022 on her way to Ramallah at the Tayyara checkpoint, according to Arab World Press.

She remained under detention without charges, in Damoun prison, for 13 months.

Raghad said the conditions of detention changed drastically after Oct. 7. She told Arab World Press that Palestinian female prisoners were subjected to oppression, isolation, and beatings.

She added: “They sprayed us with gas, beat many female prisoners, and held many in solitary confinement.”

The freed detainee went on to say that the prison administration prevented female prisoners from buying food from the “cafeteria,” and took away all their belongings. She continued: “We were deprived of clean drinking water,” and it was clear that the prison administration was “taking revenge on us.”

Raghad does not know to this day why she was arrested: “All I know is that my arrest is based on a secret file.” She added that administrative detention is renewed without charge or trial, and is a “precautionary measure due to certain suspicions.”

At 8.30 a.m. on Friday, Raghad Al-Fanni was released from prison in a hurry without being allowed to take any of her belongings. She said: “I could not say goodbye to the female prisoners who remained in the detention center. They took us out and searched us thoroughly, and took our fingerprints and DNA samples.”

Before their release, Palestinian female prisoners were threatened by the Israeli authorities with re-arrest if they participate in any festive ceremonies or speak to the media.

Qusay Taqatqa, from the city of Bethlehem, was arrested last year when he was 16 and sentenced to 20 months in prison.

He told the Arab World Press that the inmates heard about the Oct. 7 operation on the news, after which the prison administration removed television and radio equipment from inside the cells.

“The treatment of the prison administration has been barbaric for 50 days. They took all our belongings and visits or even communication with the family were prohibited,” he recounted.

Qaddoura Fares, head of the Palestinian Authority’s Prisoners and Ex-Detainees Authority, described what has been happening in Israeli detention centers since Oct. 7 as “war crimes as part of an act of revenge.”

“The repeated brutal attacks against prisoners led to the death of six of them and the injury to hundreds,” he noted, adding: “Collective punishment is practiced against detainees in the occupation prisons, and a meal sufficient for two people is served to ten.”



Lacking Aid, Syrians Do What They Can to Rebuild Devastated Aleppo 

A drone view shows houses without roofs in Aleppo, Syria, April 19, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows houses without roofs in Aleppo, Syria, April 19, 2025. (Reuters)
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Lacking Aid, Syrians Do What They Can to Rebuild Devastated Aleppo 

A drone view shows houses without roofs in Aleppo, Syria, April 19, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows houses without roofs in Aleppo, Syria, April 19, 2025. (Reuters)

Moussa Hajj Khalil is among many Syrians rebuilding their homes from the rubble of the historic and economically important city of Aleppo, as Syria's new leaders struggle to kick-start large-scale reconstruction efforts.

Aleppo, Syria's second largest city and a UNESCO World Heritage site, was deeply scarred by more than a decade of war between government and opposition forces, suffering battles, a siege, Russian air strikes and barrel bomb attacks.

Now, its people are trying to restore their lives with their own means, unwilling to wait and see if the efforts of Syria's new government to secure international funding come to fruition.

"Nobody is helping us, no states, no organizations," said Khalil, 65, who spent seven years in a displacement camp in al-Haramain on the Syrian-Turkish border.

Impoverished residents have "come and tried to restore a room to stay in with their children, which is better than life in camps," he said, as he observed workers repairing his destroyed home in Ratyan, a suburb in northwestern Aleppo.

Khalil returned alone a month ago to rebuild the house so he can bring his family back from the camp.

Aleppo was the first major city seized by the opposition when they launched an offensive to topple then-leader Bashar al-Assad in late November.

Assad was ousted less than two weeks later, ending a 14-year war that killed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions and left much of Syria in ruins.

'DOING WHAT WE CAN'

While Syria lobbies for sanctions relief, the grassroots reconstruction drive is gaining momentum and providing work opportunities.

Contractors labor around the clock to meet the growing demand, salvaging materials like broken blocks and cement found between the rubble to repair homes.

"There is building activity now. We are working lots, thank God!" Syrian contractor Maher Rajoub said.

But the scale of the task is huge.

The United Nations Development Program is hoping to deliver $1.3 billion over three years to support Syria, including by rebuilding infrastructure, its assistant secretary-general told Reuters earlier this month.

Other financial institutions and Gulf countries have made pledges to help Syria, but are hampered by US sanctions.

The United States and other Western countries have set conditions for lifting sanctions, insisting that Syria's new rulers demonstrate a commitment to peaceful and inclusive rule.

A temporary suspension of some US sanctions to encourage aid has had limited effect, leaving Aleppo's residents largely fending for themselves.

"We lived in the camps under the sun and the heat," said Mustafa Marouch, a 50-year-old vegetable shop owner. "We returned and are doing what we can to fix our situation."