Freed Palestinian Resistance Icon Al-Arda: Lebanon’s Might Lies in Its Resistance
By Mustafa Awadah
In a discussion encapsulating decades of patience and steadfastness, freed detainee Mahmoud al-Arda — the engineer behind Operation Tunnel of Freedom — spoke to Al-Ahed News about his experience inside the “Israeli” occupation’s prisons and the Gilboa Tunnel that shook the entity from within.
He affirmed that the Resistance now stands on the threshold of a decisive historical phase — one that will redraw the regional balance.
Having spent more than thirty years in captivity, Al-Arda spoke of the moment of freedom, of isolation cells and hellish conditions, of comrades who remain behind bars, and of a hope that never abandoned him. He also sent a warm message to steadfast Gaza and the Axis of Resistance, and to Hezbollah in Lebanon, asserting that the blood shed along the path to liberating Al-Quds [“Jerusalem”] will not be in vain — that the hour of victory draws near, even if the occupier’s night seems long.
Freedom: An Indescribable Moment
At the outset, Al-Arda expressed his feelings upon leaving prison after decades of captivity:
“The feeling cannot be described — neither by words nor by images. It is an exalted moment beyond description; for one who has been freed after all these long years lives a state understood only by someone who has tasted the bitterness of chains and then the sweetness of freedom.”
He continued, “I rejoiced at my release, but my joy was incomplete — for my brothers are still there. Each time I witness a release, I feel a sense of shame, because there are those who have not yet been freed and others who still suffer in cells under the harshest conditions the detainee movement has seen in decades.”
Al-Arda described the reality of detainees under the occupation during the past two years, stressing that conditions have reached unprecedented levels of oppression and violence:
“No previous period compares to what we have witnessed in the last two years. The occupation has completely lost its humanity. Even during releases shown before cameras, they deliberately humiliate and beat detainees. How much worse, then, are the conditions in the isolation cells hidden from the eyes of the world?”
He added, “The prison administration possesses absolute authority to assault detainees — during prayers, in the cells, during transfers, and during interrogations — with no moral or legal restraint. They have renounced every human value, and their treatment of us does not even meet the minimum standard of human rights.”
The freed detainee also spoke of assaults on Palestinian leaders in captivity:
“We heard of the brutal attack on detainee leader Marwan Barghouti, how his ribs were broken under torture. This is not the first time — Marwan has survived numerous assassination attempts and brutal torture, yet he always emerges stronger. ‘Israel’ deliberately excludes him from deals because it knows he holds immense influence in ending Palestinian division and unifying the national front.”
“The Tunnel of Freedom”: An Intelligence and Moral Defeat for the Occupation
Regarding the 2021 escape operation from “Gilboa” Prison — described by “Israeli” media as “the most dangerous security breach in ‘Israel’s’ history” — Al-Arda recalled the details of the experience that has become a national legend in Palestinian and Arab consciousness.
He explained, “The Tunnel of Freedom was not merely an escape attempt but a project of will and faith. We worked on the tunnel for around 300 days without being discovered, and there was complete harmony among us. Each of us knew that freedom is a sacred right that must be seized.”
He continued, “From day one, I was certain that I would be free — that I must seize my freedom with my own hands. The ‘Israeli’ enemy lived under the illusion of its security superiority, but we proved its system is penetrable, fragile from within. The Tunnel of Freedom exposed it — just as Gaza has exposed it on the battlefield. The occupation may have all the technology, but it does not understand the spirit of a resisting human being. We fight with ideology; they fight with machines. That is why the one who has faith and a cause will always prevail.”
Gaza: The Ever-Beating Heart of Resistance
Speaking about the latest war on Gaza and the prisoner swap deal that led to his release, al-Arda sent salutations to the people of Gaza and its heroic resistance:
“The price was enormous, but our goals are greater and loftier. Gaza paid with thousands of martyrs and wounded, and presented the greatest examples of steadfastness in the face of the Zionist war machine. Yet in the end, it imposed its will on the occupier. Gaza has proven that resistance — not negotiations or peace deals — is what shapes the future of Palestine.”
He added, “When the nation honors its leaders and martyrs in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, it means that the nation is drawing near to achieving its grand objectives. A nation that sacrifices on this scale cannot be defeated.”
A Tribute of Devotion to Lebanon and Its Resistance
In closing, freed detainee Mahmoud Al-Arda addressed the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon and Hezbollah, praising their historic role in supporting Palestine and confronting the occupation. He said, “Lebanon is not a small country, as some claim; Lebanon is great — great in its Resistance and in its martyrs from all sects. I say to the men of God in their trenches: Remember that Imam Musa al-Sadr and the great Martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah left in Lebanon the greatest Resistance that shook the pillars of the enemy and crushed its regional project.”
He emphasized that this epic of heroism and these sacrifices for Palestine are neither new nor unfamiliar to Lebanon. He saluted the families of martyrs and the wounded who continue steadfastly on the path of victory.
Al-Arda concluded, “The victory achieved in Lebanon in 2000 inspired the Palestinians and ignited the Al-Aqsa Intifada [Uprising], which led to the liberation of Gaza. Today, the blood of the martyrs of the Axis of Resistance — from Lebanon to Yemen — is once again redrawing the path toward Al-Quds [‘Jerusalem’].”
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