Israel releases Palestinian teenage prisoners in completion of deal with Hizbullah

Date: 06 / 08 / 2008 Time: 12:42
Tulkarem – Ma'an –

The Israeli occupation government released five Palestinian teenagers on Wednesday from Hasharon prison as part of the third and final stage of a prisoners exchange deal between with the Lebanese movement Hizbullah.

Fifteen-year-old Shadi Harshi, one of the released detainees, urged Palestinian officials to support the Palestinian young people detained in Hasharon prison because they are subjected to harsh treatment by the prison guards.

"Most of the days, wardens enter prison cells, beat us and insult us. They also use filthy vocabulary and curse Almighty God," Harshi said. He added that prisoners would also be taken to solidarity confinement where wardens beat them brutally.

He narrated how he and his fellow prisoners were beaten by interrogators at Al-Jalama interrogation center, near the West Bank city of Jenin. He said he was beaten so severely at one time that he was unable to walk.

The five arrived in the city of Tulkarem, in the northern West Bank, on Wednesday morning.

Ma'an's reporter in Tulkarem said the freed detainees were transferred in two cars belonging to the Israeli Prison Service via the At-Tayba crossing point south of Tulkarem. They were received by their families and officials from the liaison department.

The freed detainees were taken to the Palestinian liaison office before they headed to their family homes in various West Bank towns.

The five are serving prison sentences for charges including stone throwing.

In the first stage of the exchange deal in July, Israel released five Lebanese prisoners and the bodies of some 200 Palestinian and Lebanese fighters. In exchange, Hizbullah returned the bodies of two Israeli soldiers.

The detainees were identified as:

• Fifteen-year-old Zakariyya Shurbaji from Al-Eizariya in East Jerusalem who was serving a two and a half year sentence of which he had already completed 15 months.

• Sixteen-year-old Yousif Zeidan from Deir Istiya in the Salfit region of the northern West Bank, whose sentence ends after 13 months.

• Fifteen-year-old Shadi Harshi from Qaffin, north of Tulkarem, who had completed seven months out of a one year sentence.

• Fifteen -year-old Ahmad Zahran from Deir Abu Mash'al, in Ramallah in the central West Bank, who had served 8 months out of 22.

• Seventeen-year-old Atallah Jadallah from Beit Ur At-Tahta,also in Ramallah, who has served 7 months out of 21.

Ma'an learned that all the teenagers were affiliated to Fatah except for Zakariyya Shurbaji, who was affiliated to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).

With regards to relations between prisoners affiliated to different Palestinian factions, Harshi said they get along without political infighting. He appealed to rival Palestinian factions, namely Hamas and Fatah to restore nation unity.

"You must devote all your efforts at this difficult stage to what is more important than all of you, our homeland, prisoners and Jerusalem," he said.

According to Harshi, the Israeli occupation prison service informed the five only yesterday that they would be released. They were not allowed to gather their clothes or the handcrafts they make in prison.

Harshi said wishes that all Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli occupation government jails and applauded Hizbullah for getting him and his fellows released as part of the larger deal with Israel.

***Updated at 16:18 Bethlehem time

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