With 106 Palestinians in prisons for more than 20 years officials looking for inclusion in exchange

15.07.09 - 10:07

Jenin / Ali Samoudi for PNN – The number of Palestinians who have spent more than 20 years in Israeli prisons has reached 106.

According to the Hamas government’s Ministry of Detainees and Ex Detainees Affairs, Mohamed Mahmoud Hamdieh from Gaza is the latest.

Detained since 14 July 1989, Hamdieh was sentenced to life in prison by an Israeli military court.

On the same day Faraj Saleh Ramahi entered his eighth year and Salah Mahmoud of Khan Younis his seventh.

Representatives of these three from the Gaza Strip in addition to supporters of the 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons are appealing for the release of long-term prisoners in any exchange deal.

“Good will gestures mean little,” said a representative of the Ministry of Detainees, “when there are people whose release would be much more meaningful.”

The inference was that hundreds of Palestinians with short sentences or little time left could be exchanged for the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, but what many are looking for is the release of those who will otherwise never make it out.