For ex-prisoner, return to ruined Gaza brings anguish

STORY: Palestinian Youssef Mikdad spent more than two decades in an Israeli jail, where he dreamed of returning one day to a prosperous Gaza Strip where he could make up for lost time with his children.

Released last week, he found his house destroyed and his homeland reduced to rubble by Israeli bombardments.

He walked through neighborhoods laid waste by air and artillery strikes and found Palestinians displaced many times over by the Israeli offensive living in tents on the beach.

"I was surprised by all the destruction I’ve seen, with the displacement of people, no one is living in their houses, the famine I’ve seen in the country, none of the basic life necessities are available in Gaza at all. I haven’t traveled around because I can’t, there’s no car to travel with, no gas and people can’t even walk. People can't even walk for half a kilometer without falling into despair over the suffering they see.”

Mikdad's daughter Haya - his favorite child, he says - was just four when he was imprisoned.

She was killed by an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City in March, one of more than 38,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since the start of the war.

"I didn't see her as a bride when she got married, but I longed to see her with her children. I was surprised during Ramadan - I got the news while in prison that she was martyred along with her four children and husband. It was such a shock for me - like a bolt of lightning from the sky."

Mikdad was seized by Israeli forces from his house in a Gaza City suburb during a raid in 2002.

He was convicted of being a member of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah faction, and served time in several Israeli prisons.

He said the atmosphere inside changed radically after Hamas attacked southern Israel last October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.

Prisoners were tortured, went hungry and were humiliated, he said.

Widespread reports of mistreatment of detainees in Israeli prisons have added to international pressure on Israel for its conduct of the Gaza war, now in its tenth month.

In May, the U.S. State Department said it was looking into allegations of Israeli abuse of Palestinian detainees.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment about prison conditions.