VIDEO: Israel frees 83-year-old Palestinian prisoner after a 17-year sentence
Fuad Shubaki visits the tomb of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah. AFP
The Israeli authorities released the oldest Palestinian prisoner in their detention centers, Fuad Shubaki (83 years old), after he spent 17 years in Ashkelon prison.
A spokeswoman for the Palestinian Prisoners' Club and Shubaki's son confirmed to reporters that he had been released from prison.
Shubaki is considered the oldest Palestinian prisoner held by Israel.
In 2002, he was detained by the Palestinian authorities, and held in the West Bank town of Jericho under US and British supervision.
After Arafat's death in 2004, Israel invaded Jericho and arrested Shubaki, who suffers from several diseases, including his eyes, heart and stomach, and high blood pressure.
During the 17 years of his detention, Shubaki lost his wife in 2011, and four of his six children married, and today he has nine grandchildren whom he has not seen in his life.
The number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons is about 4,700, male and female detainees, distributed in 23 prisons, including 150 minors, according to the data of the Prisoners' Club.
Among them, 25 were arrested before the 1993 Oslo Accords signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel.
Among the Palestinian detainees, 552 were sentenced to life imprisonment, in addition to 835 administrative detainees.
The Palestinian Prisoners Club had previously stated that there are 600 prisoners suffering from various diseases, including at least 24 prisoners and detainees suffering from cancer.
