Resheq: Exchange deal an historic accomplishment

[ 13/10/2011 - 10:01 AM ]

DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- 315 prisoners serving life sentences would be among those released in the exchange deal with Israel, political bureau member of Hamas Ezzet Al-Resheq said on Wednesday. He told the PIC that the deal, which he described as an historic accomplishment for the Palestinian people and resistance, would include prisoners from all Palestinian factions and areas in addition to the Syrian Golan Heights. He said that the deal accomplished 90% of the movement’s demands, adding that some of the “senior prisoners” could not be included in the deal, however. Resheq said that Hamas leadership had to choose between going ahead in the deal or face delays for several others years or maybe forgetting about the deal altogether. He said that after intensive meetings the leadership decided to go ahead with the “honorable” deal after securing more than 90% of the movement’s demands and conditions. The Hamas leader affirmed that his movement would continue to seek the release of all remaining Palestinian prisoners. For his part, another Hamas leader in Gaza, Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil, said that the deal would be implemented by next Monday or Tuesday maximum. He said that Hamas hoped that all “heavy weight” prisoners were released but he said that securing 95% of demands was a success in view of what he described as “ferocious rounds of negotiations”. Bardawil revealed that the oldest serving prisoner in the world Nael Al-Barghouthi would be among those released, but noted that Ahmed Saadat, secretary general of the popular front, and Marwan Al-Barghouthi, a senior Fatah leader and MP, would not be among those released.

Sources: the first stage will see the release of all female captives

[ 12/10/2011 - 09:22 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Well-informed sources said that the first stage of the prisoner-exchange deal which will be implemented in a few days will see the release of 450 male captives and all 27 female captives. The sources informed PIC correspondent that the amongst the 450 captives to be released in the first stage there are 315 who were serving life sentences and 135 serving long sentences. The sources also said that five of the female captives are serving life sentences, including Ahlam al-Tamimi and Qahera al-Sa'di. The first group to be released will also include 45 captives from Jerusalem, 5 captives from 1948-occupied Palestine, 1 captive from the Golan, 131 from the Gaza Strip and 268 from the West Bank, according to the sources. The second stage will see the release of 550 captives.

Four Palestinian female prisoners to join hunger strike

[ 08/10/2011 - 06:13 PM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Four Palestinian female prisoners are to join the open hunger strike waged by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation jails starting on Sunday, well informed sources said on Saturday. The sources said that two of the prisoners were in the Damon jail serving multiple life sentences and 20 years respectively. They added that the other two were in the Sharon jail and were serving administrative detention and six years respectively.

Leader of Hamas female detainees marks 11 years in jail

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Detainees Ministry in Gaza highlighted on Friday the case of Ahlam al-Tamimi, 31, detained by Israel exactly 11 years ago.

Al-Tamimi was detained from her family home in Ramallah, and sentenced to life on charges of transferring a suicide bomber to Jerusalem.

She heads the Hamas female detainees group in prison, and is currently in isolation at Hasharon prison after she delivered a speech to detainees during Eid al-Fitr.

Al-Tamimi, who studied journalism, is married to Nizar al-Tamimi who received a life sentence in Israeli jail in 1993.

The ministry said al-Tamimi now suffers from severe backache as a result of her detention.

Palestinian detainees enter 25th year in Israeli jail

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Two Palestinians entered their 25th year in Israeli prison on Saturday, the Hamas ministry of detainee affairs said.

Muhammad Ziyadeh and Mukhles Burghal are from Lod in central Israel. They are both serving life sentences.

Ziyadeh is affiliated to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He is married with seven children and suffers from diabetes.

He was accused of attacking an army vehicle with a Molotov cocktail, causing no injuries.

Burghal is held at Shatta prison, where he was moved to solitary confinement after guards accused him of smuggling a letter to his mother. His father died during his imprisonment.

He achieved a Masters in Democracy while in prison.

PA security kidnaps son of prisoner Abul Heija

[ 07/09/2011 - 11:04 AM ]

JENIN, (PIC)-- Security forces from the Palestinian authority (PA) on Monday violently raided the house of senior Hamas official and prisoner in Israeli jails Jamal Abul Heija and kidnapped his 18-year old son Hamza. Informed sources told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that armed men from the preventive, intelligence and national security agencies broke into and ransacked the home of Abul Heija shortly after his son Hamza received on the morning of the same day a summons from the preventive security agency in Jenin city. The preventive security agency kidnapped Hamza last month after he responded to a summons for interrogation and was released a week later on bail. All four sons of Hamas official Abul Heija have been kidnapped many times by the PA security agencies in the context of their cooperation with the Israeli occupation. Abul Haija has been in Israeli jails for nine years serving nine life sentences on a charge of his responsibility for a resistance operation that killed nine Israelis in August 2002.

Center appeals to rights groups to help sick detainee

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian detainees' center on Wednesday appealed to human rights organizations to intervene and help a sick prisoner detained by Israel.

The center said Israeli prison authorities have kept Ammar Samhan, from Nablus, in solitary confinement for long periods despite his poor health.

Samhan's parents appealed to President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Authority Minister of Detainee Affairs Issa Qaraqe to end their son's suffering.

Israel detained Samhan in 2003 and sentenced him to life imprisonment. He is accused of leading the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyr brigades in Nablus.

Bethlehem mother dies without seeing jailed son

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) – The mother of a Palestinian detainee died Wednesday without seeing her son, who is jailed in Israel.

Amjad Taqatqa's son Amjad from the Beit Fajjar village near Bethlehem is serving six life terms in an Israeli detention center.

Detainees marking 10 years in Israeli prison

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- The Detainees Ministry in Gaza reported Wednesday that detainee Sana Shihadeh, 35, from Shu’fat refugee camp in Jerusalem has marked 10 years in Israeli detention.

Another detainee, Irina Paula Sarhaneh, 36, is also marking 10 years.

The ministry reported that Sana is sentenced to life at Hasharon prison and has teeth problems. The prison administration refuses to provide her with treatment for a dental problem, the ministry says. Her father suffers from cancer and she is afraid that her father will die without seeing her.

Detainee Irina is originally from Ukraine. She married a Palestinian called Ibrahim Sarhaneh and they lived in Ad-Duheisheh refugee camp. She was sentenced to 20 years on accusations of helping her husband transfer a suicide bomber to attack Rishon Litsion. Her husband was sentenced to life.

Irina has two daughters. One lives with her grandmother in Ukraine and the other daughter lives in Al-Duheisheh refugee camp with her grandparents.

IPS refuses court order allowing prisoner to phone her family

[ 18/05/2011 - 07:53 PM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Israeli prison service (IPS) has refused to comply with a supreme court order allowing prisoner Ahlam Al-Tamimi to contact her parents in Jordan by telephone. Tamimi had filed a case at the supreme court demanding her right to contact her parents on the phone since all her family members live in Jordan and visits are only allowed for first degree relatives. The court approved of the phone call as her right but the IPS refused and did not accept even to discuss it. Tamimi was arrested in 2001 and is serving 16 life sentences on charges of aiding resistance fighters.

IPS refuses to free a Palestinian mother despite court order

[ 18/05/2011 - 10:26 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Israeli prison service (IPS) has refused to release a detained Palestinian mother of six despite a court order to the effect, the Ahrar center for prisoners' studies and human rights said. Fuad Al-Khafsh, the Ahrar director, added in a statement on Tuesday that Samha Hijaz, 37, was detained while on her way to visit her two detained brothers Yasser, who is serving a life sentence, and Hisham, who is serving 10 life sentences. He said that Samha, from the Ramallah village of Mazra Sharqiya, was detained on 8 February 2011 and charged with planning to smuggle mobile phones to her brothers. Samha categorically denied the charge but was kept by the Israeli intelligence in custody and was subjected to cruel interrogation rounds then taken to prison with homicide convicts before being transferred to Hasharon jail. Khafsh said that an Israeli military court decided last Sunday that Samha should be released but the IPS refused. The Ahrar director urged human rights groups and international organizations to demand the release of Samha without any further delay and let her return to her husband and six children.

Jenin woman enters 10th year in Israeli jail

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Palestinian detainee Qahira Al-Sadi entered her 10th year in an Israeli jail on Sunday, the Ministry of Detainees' in Gaza said.

Al-Sadi, 35, was sentenced to life imprisonment accused of affiliation to Islamic Jihad and aiding a suicide bomber, the ministry said.

Al-Sadi, from Jenin, has four children, but only two of them are allowed to visit her in Hasharon prison. Israeli authorities banned her two children aged over 16 and her three brothers from visiting her.

The ministry said she has lost several teeth but the prison authorities have refused to allow her dental treatment.

Israel keeps the Longest Serving Political Prisoner in the World

Monday, 04 April 2011 10:58

Via Wafa

Palestine, (Pal Telegraph) - The Palestinian Prisoner’s Club (PPC) said Sunday that Nael Barghouti, who on Monday begins 34 years in Israeli prisons, is considered the longest serving political prisoner in the world.

Barghouti was arrested on April 4, 1978 and was sentenced to life in prison for his anti-Israeli occupation activity at that time.

Barghouti emphasized in a letter to PPC on the importance of ending internal division between Fatah and Hamas.

He also called for his release and the release of all prisoners held in Israeli jails particularly the sick and those who have served a long sentence.

Barghouti lost his parents during his stay at prisoner. His sister is banned from visiting him since two years. His brother is also serving a prison sentence and has been in jail for more than 23 years.

Palestinian detainees' centers raise health concerns

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Palestinian prisoners' organizations called for attention to the health condition of detainees in Israeli jails this week.

On Tuesday, Director of the Center for Defense of liberties and civil rights 'Hurriyyat,' Hilmi Al-Araj, said that the Israeli intelligence service,the Shabak, is responsible for the life of Haitham Salhieh, 27, who has been detained since November 6, 2002, and sentenced to two life sentences and three years in a Beersheba prison.

The Israeli prison service gave Salhieh immune-system weakening medications, in an assassination attempt, the center alleged.

Tuesday afternoon, dozens gathered in Al-Manara square in the West Bank city of Ramallah, in support of Salhieh, and calling for international pressure on Israel to release him.

On Wednesday, the Prisoners' society in Ramallah raised the case of detainee Ahed Abu Ghilemh, who has been kept in solitary confinement for over a year without explanation, according to his wife.

The center said Abu Ghilemh has been kept in isolation since 2010, and in March 2011, this was renewed for another year, quoting his wife.

On Thursday, the Palestinian detainees’ center in Tubas appealed for the life of detainee Khaled Al-Shawish, who suffers from paralysis.

Around 700 Palestinian prisoners remained in Israeli jails in 2010, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

Al-Shawish, who is serving a life sentence at Al-Ramla prison in Israel, is in a critical health condition, according to the center,

We don’t want Israel to release our sons as dead bodies, we want them alive and in a good health condition, the center said.

Around 7,000 Palestinian prisoners remained in Israeli jails in 2010, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

Lawyer: Detainee in urgent need of surgery

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinian detainee Ma'zouz Bsharat, held in Israel's Shatta prison, is in urgent need of surgery, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Bsharat has already undergone one surgery, but reacted badly to medication he was given which caused him to vomit constantly, the lawyer said.

Israeli forces detained Bsharat in 2003. He is sentenced to life in prison.

He is from Tubas, in the northern West Bank, and is married with three children.

Abbas Al-Sayyed goes on hunger strike in Israeli jail

[ 11/03/2011 - 03:08 PM ]

TULKAREM, (PIC)-- Abbas Al-Sayyed, commander of the Qassam Brigades in Tulkarem who is serving 36 life- imprisonment terms in the Israeli Rimon jail, has decided to go on hunger strike protesting incarceration conditions in jail, his wife said. According to his wife Ikhlas Al-Sayyed, Abbas was punished by the Israeli occupation authorities after the statements he made to Al-Jazeera satellite TV channel during his appeal hearing in n Israeli court two weeks ago. "My husband was placed in underground solitary confinement, and the Israeli jailors confiscated all his possessions, leaving him for few days there before sending him back to the solitary conferment in the Rimon jail where he spent one year isolated till now, prompting him to go on hunger strike till he is released from the solitary confinement" she added. She appealed to all human rights and legal institutions to help end the ordeal of her husband and to pressure the Israeli occupation authorities allow him family visit, noting that he was denied family visit for more than one year now.

133 Palestinians held in Israel's jails for over 20 years

GAZA (Ma'an) -- Gaza's Ministry of Detainees reported Monday that the number of prisoners held in Israeli jails for over two decades has increased to 133.

Ministry spokesman Riyad Al-Ashkar said 39-year-old Imad Al-Masri entered his 21st year in Israeli detention on Monday.

Al-Masri, from Tubas, was detained in March 1991 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Al-Ashkar said Al-Masri had been in solitary confinement at Ramon jail for over seven months.

He has suffered from severe back pain and headaches for several years but Israeli prison authorities have denied him treatment, his lawyer said.

After many appeals, Al-Masri was taken to a prison hospital for x-rays, but he was never given the results or offered treatment, his lawyer added.

Israeli authorities will not allow the detainee visitors, and his mother recently died without seeing him, Al-Ashkar said.

Al-Masri's father is now seriously ill but Israeli authorities refuse to grant him a visitor's permit to see his son, the ministry official said.

Mandela: IOA holds Palestinian woman in cell with homicide convicts

[ 03/03/2011 - 11:05 AM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Mandela institution catering for prisoners and human rights said that the IOA imprisoned Palestinian woman Samha Hijaz in one cell with Jewish homicide convicts before being transferred to Talmund jail. Lawyer Buthaina Dakmak of the institution said that Samha was arrested on 8/2/2011 after female conscripts found a mobile phone in her possession while on her way to visit her brother Yasser in Askalan jail. Two of Samha's brothers are held in Israeli detention the first Yasser is serving a life sentence while the other Hisham is serving ten life sentences.

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.

Medical neglect at Ha Likdar prison endangering lives of detainees

[ 27/12/2010 - 11:20 AM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Mandela Foundation in Jerusalem is denouncing the Israeli prison system for medical neglect in the Ha Likdar prison, calling on relevant parties to intervene in saving the lives of the sick. Riyadh Dakhlullah al-Amour, an 11-time life prisoner from Bethlehem's Tekoa district, sustained two bullet wounds, one of the bullets removed from his body, and the other moving about at times, said foundation head Buthaina Duqmaq after visiting the prison and interviewing Amour. Amour suffers a heart condition, Duqmaq added. He was fitted with a base maker when he was free. After being arrested, investigated, and taking a blow to the chest, the device suffered a gliche. It was later changed and placed on the other side of his chest. “I feel today like I felt before the device was put in. Sometimes, my heart beat stops for half a minute or more. This requires attention from outside and an attempt to introduce a specialist. I also suffer from pain in the teeth,” Amour said. Duqmaq expressed concern over the prison administration's decision to end prisoner Emad Zu'rub's hospital treatment and place him back in the Halikdar prison population before his recovery. Zu'rub, also a life prisoner from Khan Younis who has been incarcerated since April 1993, suffers from cancer and more ailments and requires daily follow-up. His return to the prison is endangering to his life in light of his toppling medical condition.