Palestinians released as part of the hostage swap deal described their experiences in Tel Aviv prisons. Jasmine Shaaban said, “Conditions in Israeli prisons are very difficult. The occupation’s policy is based on starvation and beatings. The prisoners are creative in beatings and insults every day. There are still women prisoners behind us waiting to be released.” Attaf Jaradat said that the violence against Palestinian women increased after October 7 and said, “I was beaten until I had scars on my body.”
Jasmine Shaaban, one of the Palestinian prisoners released as part of the hostage swap agreement reached between Israel and Hamas, said that they will remain in the footsteps of the resistance in the occupied West Bank. Shaban, a mother of 4 children living in the West Bank city of Jenin, spoke after her release.
Giving her first message to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Shaban said, “We are with you. You have given what is valuable, and we will remain in the West Bank in the footsteps of the resistance.” Pointing to her experiences in Israeli prison, the Palestinian woman said, “The Israeli authorities tried to demoralize the female prisoners so that they would lose hope for freedom and think that they would not be released, but I always told them that we have great confidence in the resistance.”
‘THERE ARE WOMEN WAITING TO BE RELEASED’
Regarding the conditions of imprisonment in Israeli prisons, Shaaban said: “Conditions in Israeli prisons are very difficult. The occupation’s policy is based on starvation and beatings. The prisoners are creative in beatings and insults every day. There are still women prisoners behind us waiting to be released.”
Palestinian Jasmine Shaaban was released in 2019 after spending 5 years in Israeli prisons, but was re-arrested in March 2022 and sentenced to 6 years in prison and a fine of 8,000 shekels.
‘AFTER OCTOBER 7, I WAS BEATEN UNTIL I HAD SCARS ON MY BODY’
Attaf Jaradat (50), one of the released Palestinian women prisoners, stated that Palestinian women in Israeli prisons were severely beaten and humiliated after October 7, and said, “I was beaten until I had scars on my body.” Jaradat said that Israeli authorities tried to demoralize them but failed.
“After October 7, female prisoners were placed in isolation. I was beaten until I had scars on my body, we were insulted, we were left without beds and blankets.” The Palestinian woman said that the conditions in Israeli prisons were very bad and that almost everything was removed from the prisoners’ rooms.
‘TODAY I AM FREE AFTER TWO YEARS OF HARD CAPTIVITY’
Jaradat, 50, whose two sons are still in Israeli prison, said: “It is as if I am living in a dream. After two years of hard captivity, today I am free. Despite the occupation, we broke the prison door with the will of the resistance.”
Jaradat said that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip know very well the high price of this freedom, which cost them blood and destroyed homes: “I hold my head high for them and, God willing, the day will soon come when we will see the release of all prisoners from prisons.”
