Israel frees Palestinian lawmaker Ahmed Atoun

Israeli authorities yesterday released Palestinian parliamentarian in Jerualsem, Ahmed Atoun, after holding him under administrative detention – without charge or trial – for eight months.

Local sources said that Atoun, 54, was held in the Israeli Ofer military prison in Ramallah, noting that the occupation had renewed a ban which stops him entering Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said in a statement that Atoun had spent “more than 16 years in Israeli prisons in intervals, most of which he was held under administrative detention.”

Rights groups say that five Palestinian lawmakers, including Mohammad Abu Tir, Hassan Youssef, Nasser Abdel Gawad, Ahmed Saadat and Marwan Barghouthi, are currently behind bars in Israeli detention facilities.

Report: Israel detained 6,000 Palestinians so far in 2022