GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The mother of Majdi Yasseen, a Palestinian held in an Israeli jail, seemed more active than the passive women one usually sees in the protest tent outside the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza every Monday. Majdi's mother is chanting slogans demanding the release of prisoners. She told Al-Monitor that the announcement by Hamas that it had captured Israeli soldiers during the recent war on Gaza “brought life back to me,” because she is again hopeful of seeing her son, who was sentenced to 18 years and has already served seven.
Nearly 7,200 Palestinian prisoners are in Israeli jails, including 18 Palestinian women, serving various sentences and whose lives had deteriorated, according to Qadura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club. “These prisoners are neither criminals nor dangerous terrorists," Fares told Al-Monitor. "Rather, they are fighters for freedom and against the occupation. The prisoners’ struggle and cause would not have emerged if it weren't for the occupation and the murder of Palestinians.”
