Ramallah -

The success of 6 Palestinian prisoners in liberating themselves from the heavily fortified Israeli "Gilboa" prison, last Monday, brought the file of prisoners in the occupation prisons back to the fore, also uniting the Palestinians of all stripes.

On the political level, the forces and factions met to support the prisoners, called in joint statements to interact with their cause, and announced a comprehensive strike, as happened on Sunday in the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank.


a feeling of union

On the official level, the Palestinian presidency said that the issue of prisoners had created "a real sense of the unity of the Palestinian people, just as the issue of Jerusalem."

This came in statements carried by the official news agency "Wafa" for the presidential spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, who added, "The Palestinian people always stand united in defense of their principles and sanctities."

On Saturday, Israel re-arrested the two prisoners, Zakaria Al-Zubaidi and Muhammad Al-Ardah, hours after the arrest of Mahmoud Ardah and Yaqoub Qadri, and it is still searching for the two prisoners, Munadal Yaqoub Nafi`at and Ayham Kammji, all of whom are from the Jenin area.

On Saturday evening, the Israeli Magistrate's Court in Nazareth extended the detention of the four re-arrested until September 19, after the Public Prosecution charged them with "planning a terrorist operation and belonging to a terrorist organization."

as is her custom;

The resistance in the Gaza Strip is consistent with the conscience of its people.


Abu Obeida confirms that the 4 prisoners who were re-arrested by the occupation will be at the top of the liberation list in the first exchange deal.


He stressed that what happened "does not obscure the reality of their honorable work, and it will not hide the extent of the shame inflicted on the Zionist security establishment."


It really is.

- Yasser Al-Zaatreh (@YZaatreh) September 11, 2021

liberation promise

Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), pledged - through its spokesman Abu Obeida - to release the re-arrested prisoners in the next exchange deal.

Abu Obeida said, in a brief speech on Saturday evening, "No new exchange deal will take place without the four heroic prisoners who were re-arrested by the occupation."

Hamas hides 4 Israelis, soldiers Shaul Aron and Hadar Goldin, who were captured in the 2014 summer war. While Tel Aviv says that the two soldiers were killed, Hamas does not give any information about their fate.

The movement also has Avira Mengistu, a soldier who the occupation says entered the Gaza Strip by mistake, and Hisham al-Sayed (holding an Israeli ID), which Tel Aviv announced that he entered Gaza deliberately.

The mouth of the tunnel from which the six prisoners escaped at dawn on Monday after it was dug under Gilboa Prison (Hebrew sites)

freedom issue

At the international level, Palestinian diplomacy moved at the level of embassies and at the United Nations bodies related to human rights.

Hassan Abd Rabbo, director of media at the Prisoners' Affairs Authority, says that the prisoners' issue "has become the core of the national cause."

And he points out - in his speech to Al Jazeera Net - that the liberation of the six prisoners, despite the re-arrest of 4 of them, brought to mind the issue of prisoners "as a freedom issue, not an issue of need for treatment or a hunger strike, as we have been used to in recent years."

Despite the ongoing Palestinian division since 2007, Abed Rabbo says that "the issue of prisoners brings together all Palestinians."

As for whether the solidarity campaigns with them are seasonal or permanent, he says, "As long as the situation escalates inside prisons, there is the possibility of the current upheaval continuing."

Since the escape of the six detainees, the prison occupation authorities have imposed collective punishments on the prisoners, which led to tension inside the prisons and the burning of sections in the Negev and Rimon prisons in southern Israel.

Abed Rabbo refers to an intense Palestinian diplomatic movement during the last week in support of the prisoners' cause through "circulations from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to embassies, and a move by the United Nations, the Human Rights Council, civil society organizations, and others."

Thus, the Director of Information at the Prisoners' Affairs Authority adds, the prisoners' file has returned to the forefront of Palestinian national action.

Palestinians demonstrate in support of the six prisoners, 4 of whom were re-arrested by the occupation (Reuters)

Electronic crowd and popular incubator

By liberating the six prisoners themselves, albeit temporarily, the popular incubator was again subjected to the test, as voices called for their protection and "not betraying them" or handing them over, and some even expressed regret for not being able to receive and protect them.

On the communication sites, the Palestinians mobilized their forces to interact with the issue of the six prisoners, and the prisoners in general, and circulated extensively photos and videos of the re-arrested prisoners, and news of solidarity with them.

The Palestinians of the West Bank met with the people of the occupied territories in 1948, with this file.

Young men went out in the city of Nazareth to receive the four prisoners, during their transfer to the court on Saturday evening, and chanted for their freedom and raised the Palestinian flag.

For all Palestinians and observers, the heroism of the six prisoners was embodied in their ability to free themselves from the jailer's restrictions and security measures, regardless of how long they escaped from captivity.

morale booster

The director of the "Abu Jihad Center for Captive Movement Affairs", Fahd Abu Al-Haj, says that "the planning and implementation by the six fighters to liberate themselves from the occupation's staples is a source of pride for the Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims."

He added to Al Jazeera Net, "The event (the liberation of the prisoners) proved that the Palestinian people always and forever stand by the prisoners' side, and rallied around their cause."

Abu Al-Hajj asserts that what these prisoners did is permitted by international laws, pointing to "22 similar liberation attempts in the history of the captive movement."

However, the director of "Abu Jihad for Captive Movement Affairs" stresses that the political leadership is responsible for "putting the file in international forums, to ease the Israeli pressure on the prisoners."

He noted the "national consensus of all factions and independents" on the issue of prisoners, then came to liberate themselves and "break the security system of prisons, to give a moral boost to this consensus."

On Thursday, institutions specialized in prisoners’ issues, including Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club and the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission, launched an “urgent appeal” to the United Nations bodies to “provide protection for Palestinian prisoners from collective punishment and retaliatory measures practiced against them by the Israeli Prison Service.”

The Prisoners Club estimated the number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons at about 4,650, until the end of last August, including 40 female prisoners, and about 200 children.

Among the prisoners, 25 have been detained continuously since 1983, 544 have been sentenced to life imprisonment, and 550 suffer from diseases and need urgent health care.