By Ramzi Mahmud and Mohammad Sio
GAZA CITY, Palestine/ISTANBUL (AA) - A freed Palestinian detainee broke down in tears as he embraced his child for the first time in more than a year after arriving in the Gaza Strip.
Ahmed al-Talbani, visibly emotional as he stroked his son’s head, told Anadolu that he had forgotten his children’s faces and personalities after enduring a year of continuous torture in Israeli prisons.
In a moving scene filled with tears and relief, Talbani reunited with family members in the courtyard of the Nasser Medical Complex in the southern city of Khan Younis.
Signs of exhaustion and shock were on his face as he recounted the intense torture he endured while imprisoned.
He expressed joy about the prisoner exchange deal that led to the release of 1,968 Palestinians, including 250 who were serving life sentences, and 1,718 detainees from Gaza arrested after the war began, according to a statement by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoner Society.
The exchange followed the release by Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, of 20 Israeli hostages who were being held in Gaza. Israel said it also received the bodies of four of the 28 deceased hostages who are believed to be in Gaza.
The deal marked the first phase of a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, which took effect Oct. 10.
- Torture, survival
“I cried every night because I had forgotten my children and what they looked like,” said Talbani.
He explained that he and Palestinian detainees had endured forms of torture inside Israeli prisons, some so severe they nearly cost them their lives.
“Two weeks ago, they (jailers) stormed our prison sections carrying gas canisters, which they opened inside our rooms,” he said.
Despite the abuse, Talbani said the prisoners remained steadfast, expressing hope that all detainees would soon regain their freedom.
He urged Arab and Muslim nations to act to ensure no Palestinian prisoner remains behind bars in Israel, describing the conditions as “hard.”
- ‘If it’s destroyed, we’ll rebuild it’
Talbani, a resident of Jabalia in northern Gaza, where most homes and facilities were flattened by Israeli strikes, vowed to rebuild.
“If it’s destroyed, we’ll rebuild it,” he said, adding that scenes of devastation would not break Palestinians. “Anyone who loves their homeland must be patient.”
The Israeli army launched a 20-day ground offensive in Jabalia and its refugee camp in May 2024, leveling homes and infrastructure before withdrawing at the end of the month.
In the months that followed, Israeli airstrikes targeted what remained of the area’s buildings.
- ‘Our happiness can’t be put into words’
After a year of fear and separation, Talbani’s wife, Hanan, described the reunion as an indescribable moment of joy.
“Our happiness can’t be put into words,” she said. “We thank the Palestinian people who suffered and sacrificed to reach this day,”
She expressed hope for the release of all prisoners and mercy for the dead. “We’ll rebuild what (the Israeli) genocide has destroyed.”
US President Donald Trump announced last week that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a plan he laid out Sept. 29 to bring a ceasefire to Gaza, release all Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. The first phase of the deal took effect Friday.
Phase two of the plan calls for the establishment of a new governing mechanism in Gaza without Hamas’ participation, the formation of a multinational force and the disarmament of Hamas.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed over 67,900 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it largely uninhabitable.