Peter Slezak has been keeping a watching brief on the both harrowing and joyous scenes as prisoners and hostages from Palestine and Israel were freed this week. He has gathered sources for P&I readers and observes the following.

Available evidence provides a stark contrast between the condition of Palestinians held in Israeli captivity and Israelis under Hamas. Following earlier reports of many Palestinian captives being subjected to torture, rape and murder, those emerging now are suffering severe mental and physical deterioration, some unable to walk. By contrast, extensive television coverage of released Israelis show them in robust good health and good spirits despite having had to endure, with Palestinians, the hardships of genocidal terror by Israel. Above all, there is significant footage of Israelis extending warm gratitude to their captors and offering thanks and interviews in which they record their decent treatment and care.

The Red Cross today transferred to Gaza the bodies of Palestinian prisoners who had been blindfolded, bound, and executed by hanging. Israel didn’t try to hide the crime, it sent the bodies as a message of pride, following the Zionist belief that the more brutal you are, the greater your deterrence.

Gaza Ministry of Health Director Muneer Al-Barsh:

Crimes that cannot be hidden…This is how the bodies of Gaza’s prisoners were returned — blindfolded, bound like animals, and bearing signs of severe torture and burning. They were not buried underground; they were kept for months in the occupation’s morgue freezers, their bodies preserved as silent witnesses to brutality. They did not die naturally — they were executed while restrained, a war crime demanding an urgent international investigation and accountability for the perpetrators

According to Drop Site news, a Palestinian psychiatrist who treats these men tells the channel that even medical workers live in fear from retaliation and don’t speak out about the documented patterns of degradation and physical and psychological torture employed by Israel. He said victims were assaulted using animals as a form of psychological terror meant to deter Palestinians from resistance.

The Guardian

Hindustan Times YouTube

Israeli Captives Smile, Wave Goodbye To Al-Qassam Captors; Thank Hamas For Kind Treatment | Watch

Sky News When asked what she meant by the gesture of shaking a Hamas gunman’s hand, freed hostage Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, says “because they treated us very nicely”.

When asked what she meant by the gesture of shaking a Hamas gunman's hand, freed hostage Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, says 'because they treated us very nicely'.

"They seemed really prepared and had concealed it for a long time," she added.

🔗https://t.co/170bCo7ebO

📺 Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/8F4d4wnuED

— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 24, 2023

Times of Israel Freed Hamas hostage recounts ordeal, slams Israeli failures, speaks well of captors

The Guardian Israeli hostage, 85, shown shaking hands with Hamas captor after release

[This article is more than 1 year old] Yocheved Lifshitz filmed saying “shalom”, meaning “peace”, as she and Nurit Yitzhak, 79, are taken out of Gaza

ABC News Hostages freed by Hamas, Palestinian prisoners returned in historic exchange

CNN B odies of 45 deceased Palestinians transferred from Israel to Gaza remain unidentified, Nasser hospital says

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