Hisham al-Sayed (; ; born February 15, 1988) is a Muslim Bedouin Arab Israeli civilian who was held hostage by

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

for nearly ten years. Hamas has claimed al-Sayed is an Israeli soldier but

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

has confirmed he is a civilian exempted from military service after attempting to serve for a brief period. Hisham, who has

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

, was released on 22 February 2025 as part of the

2025 Gaza war ceasefire A List of Arab–Israeli prisoner exchanges, hostages-and-prisoners exchange and armistice between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip took effect from 19 January to 18 March 2025, during the Gaza war. It includ ...

Biography

Hisham al-Sayed was born in 1988 in al-Sayyid to Manal al-Sayed and Sha’ban al-Sayed. He was diagnosed with a mental health condition, loss of hearing,

tinnitus Tinnitus is a condition when a person hears a ringing sound or a different variety of sound when no corresponding external sound is present and other people cannot hear it. Nearly everyone experiences faint "normal tinnitus" in a completely ...

, and vertigo. In 2005 he was sent to study in Cyprus, and in 2010 studied in London. In 2010 he was diagnosed with "acute

psychotic disorder In psychopathology, psychosis is a condition in which a person is unable to distinguish, in their experience of life, between what is and is not real. Examples of psychotic symptoms are delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized or incoher ...

" and in 2013 with

. Al-Sayed suffered from auditory hallucinations, and took orders from a voice in his head. He entered the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

on at least 15 occasions, and was detained by

Palestinian Preventive Security The Palestinian Preventive Security (PPS; ), also known as Preventive Security Force (PSF; ) or Preventive Security Service (PSS), is one of the security organs of the State of Palestine. It was established in 1994 by president Yasser Arafat i ...

at least three of those times. On 18 August 2008, he volunteered for military service, but was discharged less than three months later on November 6, after being identified as "incompatible for service."

Capture

On 20 April 2015, al-Sayed wandered into the Gaza Strip and was abducted by Hamas. On 28 June 2022, Hamas released a video showing a sickly Al-Sayed in a hospital bed with an

oxygen mask An oxygen mask is a mask that provides a method to transfer breathing gas, breathing oxygen gas from a storage tank to the lungs. Oxygen masks may cover only the nose and mouth (oral nasal mask) or the entire face (full-face mask). They may be ma ...

and an IV drip. Former Israeli Prime Minister

Naftali Bennett Naftali Bennett (, ; born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician and businessman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the alternate prime minister from 1 July to 8 November 2022. Bennett was t ...

condemned Hamas: "Spreading the clip of a sick man is despicable and an act of desperation."

Release

In January 2025 after the leaking of a document showing information about the 2025 Israel–Hamas war ceasefire and hostage release it was reported that Al-Sayed was set to be released by Hamas as part the exchange. His family issued a statement shortly after the announcement expressing their happiness at his return and hope for all hostages to be released. Al-Sayed was released on 22 February 2025, along with five other hostages held by Hamas. Unlike the other five hostages, al-Sayed was released without a public ceremony. The IDF confirmed receiving him few hours later.

References

{{reflist 1988 births Living people 21st-century Israeli people Bedouin Israelis Hostage taking in the Gaza Strip Israeli people taken hostage Israeli people with disabilities People with schizophrenia

Biography

Capture

Release

See also

References