Zahir al-Shashtari, a senior leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine from Nablus, has sounded the alarm over the dire conditions faced by Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Released this week after a year of administrative detention despite his worsening health, the 61-year-old described an environment of starvation, medical neglect, and daily humiliation.

“I left behind prisoners living in extremely difficult circumstances,” al-Shashtari said, recalling how he himself was shackled and blindfolded despite his illness. He stressed that prisoners are waiting desperately for an exchange deal to escape what he called “oppressive conditions,” while urging greater solidarity and pressure to allow visits that would expose the violations taking place.

Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023, rights groups have documented numerous prisoner deaths in Israeli custody, citing torture, deliberate starvation, and denial of medical care. The number of Palestinians detained has surged to more than 10,800, the highest since the Second Intifada. Among them are nearly 3,700 administrative detainees held without charge, over 450 children, and 49 women, including detainees from Gaza. Thousands more are believed to be held in military camps under the classification of “unlawful combatants,” a label extended even to Arab prisoners from Lebanon and Syria.

For al-Shashtari, the plight of those still imprisoned is inseparable from the wider struggle of the Palestinian people. His appeal is clear: the silence must be broken, and the world must act before more lives are lost behind prison walls.