Freed Palestinian Teacher Becomes Symbol of Resilience after Release from Israeli Detention

Asmaa Shatat, a Palestinian educator, was freed after spending a year in Israeli custody and has since reunited with her three children in Gaza.

She was released as part of a prisoner swap deal and has now resumed teaching at Rafida School in central Gaza, where she is hailed as a symbol of resistance.

Shatat recounted the night of her arrest, saying Israeli forces stormed her home during the holy month of Ramadan while her family was asleep.

"My husband went out to check after we heard the sound of F-16 airstrikes, and we never saw him again," she told the Tasnim News.

Shatat said she stepped outside to search for her husband when Israeli soldiers raided their home.

“I held my son Hamouda and recited the Shahada, but a soldier struck my back and took Hamouda from my arms,” she said.

She described how her children were detained: “I saw my three children face down on the ground; my daughter Lujain’s hands were handcuffed behind her back, and my sons’ heads were covered.”

Shatat said she was threatened during interrogation: “One soldier shouted, ‘Which of your sons do you want us to hit first?’ trying to force me to choose between my children.”

She was then taken in a military jeep for further questioning and said soldiers repeatedly threatened her with the deaths of her husband and children.

“When we reached Khan Younis, they said, ‘Look what we’ve done to your city, we’ve bulldozed it all,’” she recounted.

During detention, Shatat was subjected to a polygraph test twice and accused of lying by Israeli authorities.

“In the first test, I failed and was harshly interrogated again, although I had no useful information,” she said.

Eventually, the polygraph verified her statements, but promises to reunite her with her children were never fulfilled.

Shatat highlighted the unequal treatment of prisoners, saying detainees from the West Bank had access to legal representation and family visits, unlike those from Gaza.

She said, “West Bank detainees could meet with lawyers or request temporary release for medical treatment, but we from Gaza were denied all such rights.”

Describing her release, she said crossing into Gaza felt surreal.

“It was like a dream. When my cellmate Suzanne and I breathed Gaza’s air again, we felt reborn,” she said.

Shatat said the most emotional moment came at the European Hospital in Gaza, where she was reunited with her children.

“I couldn’t believe they had survived the war. When the Red Cross vehicles opened, I just wanted to hold them again — it was the most beautiful moment of my life,” she said.

Now back at Rafida School, Shatat tells her students that education under siege is also a form of resistance.

Her students see her not just as a teacher but as a witness to the suffering endured by Palestinian women and mothers.

“We thought we had lost her forever. We never imagined the Israelis would let her go,” one of her students told the Tasnim News.

Each day, Shatat returns to her school, aware that her role extends beyond teaching.

To her students, she is a figure of strength who fought during captivity and returned stronger, carrying a legacy of endurance and hope.

Shatat no longer sees her damaged school as just a ruin, but as a battleground for a different kind of resistance — one where knowledge is wielded as a weapon against occupation.