Rearrested Palestinian prisoners petition Israel Supreme Court

Thirty-one Palestinian prisoners freed in the 2011 Gilad Shalit exchange and subsequently rearrested in 2014 have petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court demanding to be released, reported Haaretz.

Attorney Avigdor Feldman, who submitted the petition yesterday, “argued that Israel incarcerated the petitioners for political reasons even though they hadn’t committed any security offense, and posed no threat to state security”, the report stated.

The court petition cites a Facebook post last month by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, who said the arrests “were meant to hurt the terrorists and to pressure their families”.

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According to Feldman, there was no legal justification for arresting the individuals. “This was a momentary political decision motivated by feelings of revenge by Jewish politicians who decided in this fashion to retaliate against Hamas for the kidnapping and killing of the three teenagers.”

The petition argues that the Palestinians concerned were living “in peace and tranquillity until the day the state decided to arrest all of them suddenly and all at once, and suddenly accused them of breaching the provisions of the letter of release, provisions that they had upheld from the date of their release to the satisfaction of Shin Bet representatives.”

Meanwhile, Haaretz cited sources in the Palestinian Prisoners Club, who said that “the petition could lead to the release of the prisoners for legal and not diplomatic reasons, thus allowing for negotiations on the Israeli MIAs and prisoners held in the Gaza Strip.”