![Palestinian icon Sheikh Raed Salah speaks during welcoming ceremony following his arrival at his home in Umm Al-Fahm after being released after 17 months in Megiddo Prison and Detention Center in Israel on 13 December 2021. [Mostafa Alkharouf - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/20211213_2_51289120_71566801.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, said he spent the entirety of his detention in solitary confinement and was repeatedly moved from cell to cell.
Speaking following his release yesterday, Salah said the Israeli occupation imposed “harsh” prison conditions on him in order to prevent him from being in touch with any other detainee. “They held me in the solitary cell of the solitary department,” he said.
“My life in prison was full of hardships and oppression,” he said. “They intended to keep me speechless all the time.”
“But now, I am free.”
Salah was detained by Israeli forces in August 2017 and indicted for incitement following his criticism of the erection of metal detectors at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
He was sentenced to 28 months in prison by an Israeli court. He served 11 months, half of which was spent in solitary confinement, before he was moved to house arrest.
After two years under house arrest, in August 2020, Salah began a 17-month jail term on incitement charges, spending the whole period in solitary confinement.
WATCH: Palestinian icon Raed Salah released from Israeli prison