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Palestinian Authority: Israeli Hostages Left ‘With Smiles and in Good Health’
Eli Sharabi reunites with his family after his release from Gazan captivity. Photo: IDF spokesperson’s unit
Supporting Hamas’ propaganda, senior Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Jibril Rajoub has falsely stated that all the Israeli hostages left “with smiles and in good health”:
Jibril Rajoub, Fatah’s Central Committee Secretary General: “Trump is interested in talking only about the suffering of the Israeli prisoners [the hostages], despite everyone leaving with smiles and in good health.” [emphasis added]
[Anadolu (Turkish state-run news agency), March 3, 2025]
Of course, this was a total lie as the before and after pictures show:
Rajoub’s statement echoes the PA’s mocking of the hostages exposed by Palestinian Media Watch.
In an editorial in its official daily, the PA wrote that the Israeli hostages came out of Hamas captivity “as if they had been in vacation resorts”:
PA editorial: “They [Hamas] handed over the hostages with gifts and in good health! … completely committed to the agreement, with the release of [Israeli] hostages without dust on their clothes, as if they had been in vacation resorts! They [Hamas] did not protect only their lives but also their welfare.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 2, 2025]
Upon the release of four Israeli female soldiers in January, Hamas claimed the Israeli hostages were handed over “in full physical and mental health.” Most of the released Israeli hostages have reported that they underwent starvation, abuse, torture, and were deprived of access to fresh air and daylight.
On the other hand, Rajoub and other PA officials continue voicing the medical libel that Israel deliberately “kills” Palestinian imprisoned terrorists by either using them as guinea pigs or by not providing them with proper medical treatment.
Ramallah and El-Bireh District Governor Laila Ghannam: “We are loyal to the path of the living Martyrs, the beloved prisoners who are dying as Martyrs and being murdered on a daily basis. In the last two days we received many prisoners who left the [Israeli] prisons like skeletons and every day were subjected to medical murder, and not medical neglect, in a deliberate manner and a deliberate policy (sic.).”
[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, April 17, 2024]
Contradicting this repeated PA libel, a released terrorist prisoner admitted that although it may be slow, the Israeli Prison Service does provide terrorists with medical treatment:
Released terrorist prisoner Saad Al-Din Jaber: “The Israeli Prison Service, in general, does not treat cases of illness seriously. They try, they send you to a hospital, they bring you [there], the processes are slow. That does not mean that they do not treat people; they treat people but very slowly.”
Official PA TV host: “Less than the minimum.”
Saad Al-Din Jaber: “Until my turn comes, my illness might get worse. If I had a minor problem, it could develop into a serious illness. That’s the problem with the issue. I want to speak about the issue fairly. The treatment exists, but very slowly.”
[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, March 31, 2025]
Similarly, the director of the PA-funded Prisoners’ Club admitted that the imprisoned terrorists are well cared for:
PA-funded Prisoners’ Club Director Amjad Al-Najjar: “The reports that reached us from released prisoners and visits by lawyers [to prisoners] teach that a very short time ago some of the clothes were brought into the [Israeli] prisons, and [the prisoners] were given grey pajamas … They were given winter coats, and this is very important at the current time, especially in the Ofer Prison and at some of the detention points.”
[Official PA TV, Dec. 23, 2024]
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
The post Palestinian Authority: Israeli Hostages Left ‘With Smiles and in Good Health’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.