Israel change law to allow re-arrest of freed prisoners

A leading Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, revealed on Sunday that the occupation authorities has amended its military law to allow the re-arrest of 14 Palestinian prisoners who were freed as part of the Shalit deal. The released prisoners are now expected to serve the remainder of their original sentences, in some cases decades.

Palestinian human rights organizations view the arrest of the released prisoners as a serious breach of the agreement brokered in October 2011 by the Egyptian and German governments between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Israeli authorities.

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The newspaper noted that under the new amendment the Israeli authorities are not obliged to prove the case for the re-arrest of released prisoners. It referred to a petition filed by Ahlam Haddad, the legal counsel for two prisoners, in which she pointed out that a driving offence or staying illegally in Israel were enough to return any released prisoner back to prison to spend his remaining decades; without the need to prove these charges.