In the West Bank, Palestinians don't have to break laws to get arrested

An atmosphere of anxiety permeated the Hijazi household. The father incessantly smoked cigarettes, while the mother and two aunts busied themselves answering constant phone calls, all their eyes fixed on the rolling news on the living room television. They were all desperate for any updates about their daughter and sister.

Hadeel Hijazi, a 33-year-old activist, was arrested last June while returning to the West Bank from Malaysia and has since been held in an Israeli prison without any charges or explanation. She is one of many Palestinian prisoners held under "administrative detention," a practice where people are arrested for being deemed likely to violate the law in the future.

Hadeel Hijazi was released under a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that went into effect on Sunday, aimed at ending the 15-month war in Gaza. Despite her name being on the list of the first released prisoners, her parents remained skeptical. Hijazi's father, Mohammed, stated that prisoners like his daughter are often detained based on secret evidence that is not even disclosed to them, making it nearly impossible to refute the allegations.

"In the whole world, only Israel does administrative detention without any charges or evidence," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, "It is unique in the world." Hijazi's mother, Intisar, said that the past seven months have been torturous due to the lack of information or contact with her daughter. "It's painful when there is one person missing from the house. It leaves a void," she said. "I kept thinking about her. How was she sleeping? What was she doing? What were they doing to her?"

In the early hours of Monday, local time, Hadeel Hijazi stepped out of the prison van and into the arms of her loved ones. It was a moment of celebration for her family, but a bittersweet one for the released prisoner. "It's a complex feeling coming out of the isolation of the Zionist prisons and seeing the world, seeing what's happening," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "It's also complex to leave people behind in prison." She claimed to have been abused in prison and threatened by prison guards upon her eventual release. "They threatened us not to talk or say anything about our prison conditions, not to celebrate our freedom, and not to talk to the media," she said. But she is determined to speak out. "The international community needs to stand up and defend the Palestinian prisoners, defend their rights," she said.

"The issue is bigger than what happened to Hadeel." Of the nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners who will be released in exchange for 33 Israeli hostages, many like Hijazi were held under administrative detention, but there are also some who are serving long sentences. These include members of militant groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, some of whom are serving life sentences for crimes including murder, making their release a contentious issue in the ceasefire negotiations.

One of the most notable prisoners is Nael Barghouti, who has spent more time in Israeli prisons than any other Palestinian. He was first imprisoned in 1978 for his involvement in an attack that killed an Israeli soldier in Jerusalem and spent 33 years in prison before being released as part of a prisoner swap in 2011. Israel arrested him again in 2014, and he has been in prison ever since. His wife, Iman Nafie, also served 10 years in prison for allegedly planning a suicide operation in Jaffa.

She joined celebrations in Ramallah welcoming the first group of prisoners home, but she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that while she was excited for her husband to be released under the agreement, it is unlikely she will see him as he is expected to be immediately deported. "Today, we are happy that people will be released, and we are happy that the war in Gaza will stop, but for Nael Barghouti, he shouldn't be deported," she said. "I want him to come back to his land. I planted trees, and he planted trees, and we have oranges, and I want him to eat some from his own land, so I hope ... the situation will change and he won't be deported."

"I want him to be free. He was 19 when he was arrested in 1978, and now he's 67, and he'll be 68 next October. God will help us." Another who is not on the list of released prisoners is Marwan Barghouti, a leader of two uprisings who has been accused of orchestrating shooting ambushes and suicide bombings. His wife, Fadwa, also joined the celebrations in the West Bank, with supporters chanting her husband's name, some waving Hamas flags. While it is unlikely he will be released anytime soon, many of Fadwa's friends, who were imprisoned alongside her until last May, will be released.

"We almost lost hope to welcome our friends and our loved ones, and we are happy first for the ceasefire, and we hope, Inshallah, the war will end," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "I haven't seen them for eight months, and I heard they were treated very badly, so I'm happy that they will be free." Israel [has repeatedly denied mistreating Palestinian prisoners](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-19/allegations-of-gaza-abuse/103692464), but Fadwa Barghouti claimed she too suffered in Israeli prisons. "All of our human rights were taken away, and we were treated badly," she said. "We were beaten, we were strip-searched, we were humiliated. We had very little of everything, food, medical care, clothes."

According to B'Tselem, a Jerusalem-based human rights organization, there were 10,966 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons as of June 2024. The release of prisoners will continue through the weekend, when Hamas will release another four Israeli hostages. While Hijazi's father, Mohammed, welcomed his daughter home, his thoughts now turn to the families of other Palestinians who remain in prison. "Hadeel's case is just one case of thousands of Palestinians who are in prison," he said. "What is six months or even a year compared to those detainees who are serving life sentences?" "The issue is bigger than Hadeel's ordeal."