PNN – The cry uttered by the Palestinian Jaber al-Majdalawi—recently released from Zionist captivity—upon his arrival in the Gaza Strip was not merely a reaction to his freedom after months of detention; it was a reflection of the pain and suffering endured by thousands of Palestinian prisoners in the Zionist regime’s jails.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network citing the Palestinian Information Center, al-Majdalawi was released on Monday evening via the Kerem Shalom crossing, alongside 59 other Palestinian prisoners from the Gaza Strip. These prisoners had spent months in detention, and their accounts speak of torture, starvation, and the denial of medical care within the Zionist regime’s prisons and detention centers.
Upon entering Gaza, Al-Majdalawi—weeping bitterly—let out a loud, harrowing cry that deeply moved everyone present. He then said in a broken voice: This is not just my cry; it is the cry of every prisoner who remains there.
The released Palestinian recounted spending one year and nine months in detention, including six months at the notorious Sde Teiman facility—a center that has faced widespread criticism from human rights organizations due to numerous reports of torture and inhumane treatment of Palestinian detainees.
Al-Majdalawi added that throughout his detention, he was kept completely cut off from the outside world and unaware of events; he did not even know of the Zionist regime’s decision to release him until the very moment he was handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Speaking about the ordeal endured by Palestinian prisoners, he said: We suffered immensely. Words fail to describe what we went through in the prisons. The prisoners remain in danger, and their plight is beyond description.
Al-Majdalawi’s tears reflected not so much the joy of salvation and freedom as his profound sorrow for those he had left behind in prison. Even as he embraced his liberty, he recalled the faces of fellow inmates who remain waiting for a door to open or news to arrive that might end the darkness of their cells.
Over the past few months, Palestinian and international human rights organizations have documented dozens of testimonies from released prisoners. These individuals have recounted severe beatings, torture, starvation, denial of medical care, and prolonged solitary confinement—practices that have been widely inflicted upon detainees from the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.
According to statistics from organizations dealing with prisoners’ affairs, thousands of Palestinians remain imprisoned by the Zionist regime. Among them are individuals from the Gaza Strip, with the whereabouts of many having been kept hidden from their families and human rights organizations for months.
At the same time, international calls have intensified for the fate of these detainees to be clarified and for their protection to be guaranteed in accordance with international law.
Although the sound of Jabr al-Majdalawi’s cry subsided after a few moments, its echo lingers in Gaza—a cry raised not to elicit sympathy for a man who has been released, but to draw the world’s gaze toward those still behind bars, for whom freedom remains a deferred dream.