The number of Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel for more than 20 years continuously has reached 136, according to the Director of the Department of Statistics at the Ministry of Detainees and Former Detainees in Ramallah. Such prisoners are referred to as the “Deans” of the prisoners. The names of 5 prisoners from the West Bank and Gaza were added to the list this week.
Abdel Nasser Farwana, who is himself a former prisoner, said that the Deans include 56 prisoners from the West Bank, 41 from the Gaza Strip, 22 from Occupied Jerusalem and 16 from inside Israel itself, in addition to one Arab prisoner from Syria’s Golan Heights, which are still occupied by the Zionist state.