Detainee enters 22nd year in Israeli jail

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A detainee from Ramallah entered his 22nd year in an Israeli prison on Thursday, the Gaza government Detainees' Ministry said.

Hassan Yousef Mahmoud Ghafri, 40, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1990, accused of killing Israeli soldiers, ministry spokesman Riyad Ashqar said.

Ghafri received his high school diploma and learned English and Hebrew in prison, Ashqar said. He also excelled in writing poetry.

He enrolled at the Hebrew University but Israel's prison administration dismissed him from the program, the spokesman added.