Musa al-Halayka, one of the 642 Palestinian prisoners released by Israel from Ofer Prison at night, was released after 20 years in prison and reunited with his family in his West Bank home.

“We were eating only to stay alive. I lost 25 kilos after October 7. They would give us half a spoon of sugar every week. We have never seen the suffering we have witnessed in the last 1.5 years,” al-Halayka said.

“I was 4 years old when my father was arrested and I am 24 years old today. We could not sleep for days for my father’s freedom. I want to sit in front of my father and memorize his face and count his eyelashes. Freedom is a wonderful thing, thank God. We thank Gaza for freedom. May God have mercy on the martyrs,” said El-Halayka’s daughter, Ayşe El-Halayka.