Raed al-Saadi, 57, detained since 1989, was sentenced by Israeli courts to 2 life terms in prison, in addition to 20 years
Israeli authorities released Palestinian prisoner Raed al-Saadi on Saturday as part of the second batch of releases under phase one of the Jan. 19 ceasefire agreement.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, Raed Mohammed Sharif Al-Saadi, 57, from the town of Silat al-Harithiya, northwest of Jenin in the northern West Bank, had been detained since 1989 and is the longest-serving prisoner from the Jenin Governorate.
- Prisoner of 1987 Intifada
Al-Saadi was pursued and arrested following the outbreak of the First Intifada in 1987. He was sentenced by Israeli courts to two life terms in prison, in addition to 20 years.
Known for his active role within Israeli prisons at various levels, al-Saadi played a significant role among his fellow prisoners. He is also the author of a novel, My Mother Maryam the Palestinian.
Al-Saadi is among the prisoners detained before the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel. This group includes 21 prisoners, along with 11 others who were re-arrested after their release in the 2011 Gilad Shalit Exchange.
During his imprisonment, al-Saadi endured personal losses, including the death of his father, who had gone blind in his final years and was unable to visit him. He also lost his mother and brother, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Society.
"I miss my father; to see the sparkle in his eyes that was taken from him in tears of sorrow and grief. I long for my mother's soil; to stand at her grave, apologizing for the years she spent sitting at the threshold of the house, calling my name with every movement, hoping it would be me,” al-Saadi wrote in a heartfelt message after entering his 35th year in Israeli prisons.
- Prisoner exchange
Palestinian resistance group Hamas earlier Saturday handed over four female Israeli soldiers under a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Israel.
Some 200 Palestinian prisoners were also released on Saturday in exchange for the four freed Israeli soldiers.
Televised footage showed the arrival of 114 prisoners to the West Bank city of Ramallah from the Ofer Military Prison aboard three International Red Cross buses.
Sixteen prisoners, accompanied by Red Cross representatives, also arrived at the European Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, to the warm welcome of thousands.
Egypt's state-affiliated Al-Qahera News channel also reported that two buses carrying 70 freed Palestinian prisoners arrived in Egypt under the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
The Prisoners' Media Office said early Saturday that the freed prisoners include 121 who had been serving life sentences and 79 with lengthy sentences.
It added that 70 of those serving life sentences will be sent outside the Palestinian territories.
Under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, Israel is now set to withdraw from the Netzarim Corridor area that separates northern Gaza from its south, allowing displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.
- Ceasefire seeking permanent truce
The first six-week phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement took effect on Jan. 19, suspending Israel's genocidal war that has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 111,000 since Oct. 7, 2023.
On day one of the ceasefire, Israel released 90 Palestinian detainees in return for three Israeli captives set free by Hamas.
The three-phase ceasefire agreement includes a prisoner exchange and sustained calm, aiming for a permanent truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
The Israeli onslaught has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of untold numbers of elderly people, women, and children.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
