Israel reverses decision to banish woman prisoner to Gaza

Date: 12 / 04 / 2009 Time: 10:58

Gaza's Erez Border Crossing [Ma'anImages] Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli authorities agreed on Sunday to allow a Palestinian woman to return home to the West Bank after she was released from prison and deported to the Gaza Strip. Shirin Ash-Sheikh was released from an Israeli prison and sent to Gaza earlier on Sunday. The decision to banish her to Gaza was announced on Saturday. Qaddura Faris, head of the Palestinian Prisoner Society, said Palestinian Minister of Civil affairs Hussein Ash-Sheikh managed to obtain a permit from Israel to allow Ash-Sheikh to travel to the West Bank on Monday. Ash-Sheikh was born in Gaza in 1985 and moved with her family to Ramallah in 1998. She was apprehended in 2003 and was sentenced to six years in jail.