'Thank God we got out': Released Palestinians recall years in Israeli prison

While joy swept through the crowd of Palestinians that gathered to greet former detainees in the occupied West Bank, those released from Israeli-run jails recalled severe abuse and hardship.

Sameh al-Shoubaki, a 45-year-old former prisoner from the West Bank city of Qalqilya, told Middle East Eye that those like him, who had been sentenced to life in prison, were allowed no contact with the outside world.  

"To be a prisoner under a life sentence is to be living in purgatory but without dying," said Shoubaki, who was released on Thursday after serving 22 years in prison.

Before his arrest in 2003, he had been pursued by Israeli forces for months, surviving several assassination attempts. Following his arrest, he was subjected to a 94-day military investigation and another 33-day investigation in 2013.

Israeli forces demolished his family home a year after his arrest, and his brothers were also detained. He was kept in solitary confinement during his imprisonment.

Read more: 'Thank God we got out': Released Palestinians recall years in Israeli prison