Divded attention

While world media focused almost exclusively on Israel’s three women hostages freed last Sunday at the start of the six-week ceasefire in the war on Gaza, little attention was paid to individuals among the 90 Palestinian hostages held by Israel. They included leftist lawmaker Khalida Jarrar, journalist Bushra Al-Tawil and Dalal al-Arouri, sister on a slain Hamas leader. There is a world of difference between the two trios.

The Israeli women were captured by Hamas during the Oct.7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. Doron Steinbrecher, 31, is a veterinary nurse seized at Kafr Aza kibbutz; dual British-Israeli Emily Damari, 28, was wounded in the hand and leg when abducted by Hamas from the same kibbutz where she grew up; and Romi Gonen, 24, was caught at the nearby music festival. The three were living normal, secure lives where they could build decent futures. While none were serving soldiers, women must enlist for a minimum of 24 months in the Israeli armed forces in both combat and support units.

The three Palestinian women I have chosen to identify among the 737 prisoners of Israel due for release during the first stage of the ceasefire/hostage/prisoner deal have survived Israeli conquest, occupation, expropriation, ethnic cleansing and apartheid. Their lives have been disrupted, and their futures are uncertain.

The most prominent of the three is Palestinian legislative council member Jarrar, 61, who has been held in indefinite administrative detention since the 2023 outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza. A leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), she was elected in 2006 to the council which was suspended in 2007 after Hamas took control of Gaza. Since then, legislators have maintained a low level of contacts and have assumed political roles. Jarrar has been Palestinian representative at the Council of Europe and head of the council’s prisoner committee.

Jarrar was heavily involved in securing the Palestinian Authority’s bid to join the International Criminal Court (ICC). Last year the ICC issued warrants on charges of war crimes for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and ex-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. She has served five terms of imprisonment. Her most recent arrest was in December 2023 when she was placed on administrative detention in a women’s prison. Last August Jarrar’s life was put at risk while she was held isolated in solitary confinement in a tiny cell and denied regular meals although she suffers from serious ailments, including diabetes. Her father, daughter and nephew all died while she was behind bars, and she was not allowed to attend their funerals.

Journalist Bushra Al-Tawil, 31, was arrested for the first time while in secondary school and was sentenced to 16 months in prison. Upon her release five months later in a prisoner swap, she studied journalism in Ramallah and graduated in 2013. Tawil founded a news network to cover Israeli abuses of prisoners and media personnel. Between 2014 and 2022, she was arrested half a dozen times and was held in prison under administrative detention for several years.

Tawil’s father is Jamal Al-Tawil, a prominent Hamas leader and former mayor of Al-Bireh in the West Bank. He has spent many years in prison while her husband Mohammed Al-Tawil has been serving nine life sentences since 2002.

Dalal Al-Azouri, 52, is the younger sibling of Saleh Al-Azouri, deputy head of Hamas politburo and West Bank military chief who was assassinated by Israel in Beirut in January 2024. She and her sister Fatima, 47, were arrested and indicted by Israel for transferring money to her brother and supporting Hamas 2023 attack on southern Israel. The charge Israel levelled against them was “incitement.”

Among the notable men freed was Mohammed Halabi who was arrested by Israel in 2016, charged with terrorism and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Before his arrest, Halabi worked for the humanitarian organisation World Vision International. The Israeli authorities accused him of diverting funds to Hamas. Although World Vision denied the accusation, Halabi was forced to confess under duress by Israel’s internal intelligence agency Shin Bet. This prompted a global campaign by activists calling for his release.

According to Israeli official figures, there are 10,221 Palestinians in Israeli prisons: 3,376 of them are held under administrative detention while another 1,886 are classified as “unlawful combatants” and also held without charge or trial. Administrative detention – imposed by Britain during the mandate and retained by Israel – provides for repeated periods of detention without the accused being charged, tried, or sentenced. As it can be indefinite in practice, it is a particularly cruel punishment for detainees and their families.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said 1,890 Palestinians, including 734 prisoners and 1,156 from Gaza held outside Israel’s justice system, will be released in the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire in exchange for 33 Israeli hostages, 25 of whom are believed to be alive. The release of the rest of the 98 hostages held by Hamas will be negotiated and take place during the second and third phases of the deal . Israel continues to refuse the release of 10 high value prisoners, including Fatah’s military chief Marwan Barghouti and the PFLP’s Ahmad Saadat.

The 90 released prisoners included 69 women and 21 teenaged boys, the youngest being 12 years old. All but seven were arrested after the October attack on Israel. Haaretz reported on January 18th that the “list includes men and women who were arrested from 2020 onward, with 66 of them detained during 2024.” Five were accused of attempted murder, three of murder, and seven of assault or “causing serious bodily harm.” Sentences were imposed on 10, 31 are administrative detainees, and 54 are regular prisoners.

Palestinians argue that imprisonment is a key element of Israel’s 57-year-old occupation policy, and it is estimated that 40 per cent of Palestinian men have been arrested at least once in their lives.

Photo: TNS