45-year-old Palestinian prisoner Khaled Juhini al-Sawarka took back his freedom from the Israeli occupation after they took away 21 years of his life in prison. 

The Ministry of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners announced on Thursday that the occupation "released" the prisoner from Gaza City.

Al-Sawarka was detained from Deir Al-Balah in Gaza on July 14, 2002, and was sentenced to 21 years at the time. 

Just last week, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons sent, through Al Mayadeen, a message to the Jenin refugee camp and its heroic fighters, as well as the Jenin Brigade, in which they affirmed that day by day, they become more certain that victory is getting closer than ever.

"From the dungeons of oppression, injustice, and terrorism, we salute the Jenin camp, our [Jenin] Brigade, and the Resistance," the letter read.

According to reports of institutions concerned with the affairs of Palestinian prisoners, including the Palestinian Prisoners' Club and the Commission for Detainees and Former Detainees, Israeli prisons hold around 4,900 Palestinian prisoners (including 31 women and 160 minors), and another 1,000 administrative detainees: including  2 women (namely Raghad Al-Fani and Rawda Abu Ajamia) and 6 minors. 

Prisoners arrested prior to the Oslo agreement are estimated to be 23, the oldest of whom is Muhammad Al-Tus, imprisoned since 1985.

Read next: A legend that debunked a myth: Scenes from the 2006 July War