After more than two decades in an Israeli prison, Palestinian Youssef Mikdad envisioned a triumphant return to a prosperous Gaza Strip, where he could reconnect with his children and rebuild his life. However, upon his release and return to Gaza last week, Mikdad was met with devastation. His home lay in ruins, and his homeland was reduced to rubble, dust, and twisted metal due to relentless Israeli bombardments.
As Mikdad walked through neighborhoods destroyed by air and artillery strikes, he reached Gaza’s Mediterranean shoreline. There, he found Palestinians displaced multiple times by the Israeli offensive, living in tents on the beach. Like many Gazan parents, Mikdad faces the daunting task of providing for his family in a territory plagued by severe shortages of food, fuel, power, and medicine. Schools that could have educated his grandchildren have been destroyed, and few hospitals remain functional.
Mikdad’s daughter Haya, whom he fondly recalls as his favorite child, was just four years old when he was imprisoned. Tragically, she was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City in March, one of more than 38,000 Palestinians who have lost their lives since the start of the conflict. “I have five children, three sons, and two daughters; this girl was the youngest and the best,” Mikdad said. He received the heartbreaking news during Ramadan, a month he had observed behind bars for years, that Haya had died alongside her husband and four children. “I didn’t see her as a bride when she was married, but I longed to see her with her children. Every time I see a woman with young children, I think to myself this must be her,” he lamented.
Mikdad, 63, was seized by Israeli forces from his home in a Gaza City suburb during a 2002 raid. He was sentenced after being convicted of membership in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah Palestinian faction. Throughout his imprisonment in various Israeli facilities, Mikdad recalled a time when Palestinian prisoners were allowed some autonomy in running their affairs, as both sides developed a mutual respect. However, the atmosphere changed drastically after fighters from the Palestinian group Hamas attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7 of the previous year, resulting in 1,200 deaths and around 250 hostages being taken to Hamas-run Gaza.
“Even animals have rights, but we humans for them didn’t have any rights. We have seen all forms of torture, even hunger,” said Mikdad. “There was no food, water, papers, or any ways of communication, there was nothing. Prisoners were humiliated and crushed for 24 hours a day.” The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comments about the prison conditions.
Widespread reports of detainee mistreatment in Israeli prisons have intensified international pressure on Israel concerning its conduct of the Gaza war, now in its tenth month. In May, the U.S. State Department announced it was investigating allegations of Israeli abuse of Palestinian detainees. Hamas, along with other Palestinian factions, has long advocated for the release of the approximately 6,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, a critical issue in the ongoing discussions aimed at ending the conflict.
