Israel releases 2 Palestinian prisoners who spent 22 years behind bars

By Awad Rajoob

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - The Israeli army released two Palestinian prisoners Tuesday who had completed 22-year sentences.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, the Israeli military “released Rateb Haribat and Mahamoud Abu Saleh after serving 22 years in Israeli prisons.”

However, the military was reportedly slow in releasing the two, holding them throughout the day, the statement added.

The statement said the Israeli military conditioned their release on refraining from holding any welcoming activities for the prisoners in their hometown of Dura, Hebron in the southern West Bank.

On Tuesday morning, the military raided the planned reception site for Haribat and Abu Saleh in Dura, threatening their families and demanding the removal of their photos and any other signs of their welcome, the statement said.

The Prisoners Club noted that Haribat had worked during his imprisonment to care for sick prisoners at the Ramla prison clinic.

As of early July, there were approximately 9,700 prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails, according to prisoner affairs organizations.

​​Tensions have been running high across the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, amid a deadly Israeli offensive that has killed nearly 39,400 people in Gaza since Oct. 7 last year.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land "illegal" and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio