Israel released over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in 2011 within the framework of the Shalit prisoner-exchange deal. In return, Hamas released Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier Gilad Shalit, who was abducted five years earlier. But in July 2014, after the abduction (and murder, as it was later discovered) of Israeli youths Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach in the West Bank, Israel re-arrested several dozen of the released prisoners. On March 3 of this week, 31 of these Hamas prisoners appealed to the High Court of Justice (HCJ) through their lawyer, Avigdor Feldman, against their imprisonment.
Feldman argued that Israel re-imprisoned these people because of political reasons, even though none of them had committed a security offense or threatened the security of the state. It was also argued that the second incarceration violated the agreement signed by the government.
