Of 600 priosners to be imminently released by Israel only 12 are Palestinian

NABLUS (Ma’an) -- Israel is set to release at least a dozen Palestinian prisoners on Friday, a human rights group said.

Ahmad al-Beitawy, a researcher with International Solidarity for Human Rights, said Thursday that the Israeli prison administration will release prisoners with sentences of four years or less.

The expected release is due in part to the activation of a law by the prison authorities which sees detainees released early for good behavior and because they have undertaken a third of their sentence, al-Beitawy said.

The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Prisoner Affairs said Thursday, however, that the Israeli decision to release prisoners was in fact related to conditions of overcrowding in jails, and lawyer for the ministry Jawad Omoumi told Ma'an that announcements by the International Solidarity for Human Rights group were inaccurate.

"I called detainees in Ofer prison, which includes detainees whose time in prison is nearly up, and they assured me that the Israeli prison administration informed 12 Palestinians, whose time is up, that they will be released," he said.

Omoumi said that Israel will release over 600 prisoners from jails across the country due to overcrowding, but only 12 are of Palestinian origin. more