A plan to free Palestinian hostages: Here's why unity can't wait

Editor's note: Prominent writer and advocate of Palestinian liberation Wael El Gaube, 49, had spent a total of 30 years in Israeli prisons when he was released as part of a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas in January 2025. Then, on the morning of May 6, Israeli forces raided his home in the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank and detained him once more. He has now been sentenced to six months in administrative detention.

As a brutal and genocidal war is waged against us across this land, Israel’s prison system stands at the centre of its unchecked aggression. Inside, the relentless torture of Palestinian prisoners continues without pause, escalating daily in scale, scope, and cruelty.

The question "what must be done" returns with urgency, but the answers remain unclear, both in terms of how we resist and, crucially, how we confront the suffering of those imprisoned in these unbearable conditions filled with horror. 

Currently, scattered and disorganised efforts have struggled to build momentum or secure meaningful gains, hindered by unclear objectives and a lack of planning.

This may reflect the absence of a cohesive national strategy, particularly concerning the prisoners, rooted in the hopeful yet passive assumption that they will ultimately be freed.

Yet their hoped-for liberation does not erase the crimes committed, nor lessen the urgency of the struggle for their cause. This responsibility compels us to organise and plan the fight for the prisoners with clarity and purpose.

We must first seek to repel Israel’s aggression and its all-out assault on Palestinian prisoners, resisting it directly and applying pressure by every means available.

Alongside this, we must expose the full scale of the crimes unfolding within the prisons, amplifying them and presenting the Palestinian narrative in a coherent, far-reaching manner.

Equally urgent is the task of documenting prisoners’ living testimonies: preserving, with care and precision, the collective memory of this extraordinary and harrowing moment in our history.

Finally, we must work to expand global solidarity with the prisoners, elevate their voices and their just cause, and ignite serious, sustained Palestinian mobilisation in their defense.

Achieving these goals demands broad, collective effort, and a public will committed to liberation. This, in turn, requires strengthening the ties between organisations, movements, activists, and other vital forces to build an active international coalition. Such a coalition must be grounded in clear goals: the liberation of the prisoners, recognition of their suffering and resistance, and a decisive end to the violence waged against them.

The urgency of the moment for Palestinian prisoners

Building such a coalition requires more than solidarity, it demands a serious, coordinated initiative capable of carrying out a range of urgent tasks within a unified action plan.

One priority is launching an international campaign with the participation of regional and global institutions, escalating its presence through consistent public events that keep the issue of Palestinian prisoners in focus. Alongside this, a multilateral front, uniting Palestinian, regional, and international voices, must be established to document the experience of every prisoner after October 7. This effort should serve both as a living archive of resistance and a public record of the crimes committed by the occupation. It must be methodical, far-reaching, and shared globally.

Equally important is the creation of a dedicated support agency through the relevant institutions, designed to provide care for former prisoners, particularly those suffering from acute psychological trauma intensified in the months since October 7.

A coordinated media strategy is also essential, especially across social platforms, to shift the narrative from abstraction to humanity. This includes publishing photographs of each prisoner before their arrest and after their release, and curating a mobile exhibition, both physical and virtual, to ensure these stories reach the widest possible audience.

At the heart of all this must be a commitment to nuance. Not all prisoners face the same conditions, and any serious campaign must reflect this. The experiences of women, children, administrative detainees, the sick, and the elderly must be made visible. A prisoner-centred project is needed— one that recognises each individual not as a number, but as a person with a history, a voice, and a right to be heard.

There are many paths forward and many tasks to undertake, but all of them depend on sustained effort, thoughtful coordination, and the will to confront the brutal reality of the war being waged on the prisoners.

Addressing the issue of prisoners only on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day is not enough. Instead, this day should serve as a moment to reflect on the role we are called to play, to assess what actions we can take, and to identify the resources needed to sustain this vital work. Our goal must be for the prisoners’ cause to move beyond a single annual remembrance and become a central, ongoing part of our broader struggle for liberation.

Wael El Gaube is a Palestinian former prisoner and author who spent thirty years in Israeli prisons and was active in the prisoner movement. He has published several books, including 'Letters on the Prison Experience' and 'Dreams of a Prisoner' as well as various studies, and political and academic articles.

Translated by Rose Chacko

Have questions or comments? Email us at: editorial-english@newarab.com

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.