Palestinian enters 40th year in Israeli prison: NGO

RAMALLAH, Palestine

A Palestinian man sentenced to life in prison marks his 40th year in detention in an Israeli jail.

Maher Younes, 64, was arrested by Israeli forces in the town of Ara in northern Israel on January 18, 1983, according to a statement by the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), an NGO that advocates for the rights of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The NGO said the Israeli authorities have set Younes’ life sentence at 40 years, meaning that he is serving his last year in prison.

The rights group noted that Israeli authorities had previously refused to include Younes in any prisoner swap deals.

According to NGO, 25 Palestinians were already languishing in Israeli prisons prior to the signing of the Oslo peace agreement between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel in 1993.

Palestinian NGOs estimate that around 4,600 Palestinian detainees are held in Israeli jails.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar