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.