After spending 40 years in Israeli jail, Karim Younis, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner has been released.
66-year-old Younis was freed from Hadarim prison and left in the city of Ra’anana, about 20 km north of Tel Aviv, by Israeli authorities on early Thursday (5 January) morning, reported Al Jazeera.
Wearing a black and white keffiyeh around his shoulders, Younis was welcomed by hundreds of supporters singing the Palestinian national anthem in ‘Ara, his hometown in northern Israel. “Every prisoner’s story is the story of an entire people and I am proud to be one of those who sacrificed for Palestine,” Younis told AFP after his release.
Who is Karim Younis and why was he arrested? How many Palestinian prisoners have been imprisoned by Israel? Let’s take a closer look.
Karim Younis and his arrest
Younis, who is an Arab-Israeli, was arrested in 1983 and charged with the kidnapping and killing of Israeli soldier, Avraham Bromberg, three years prior in the occupied Golan Heights.
He was sentenced to death which was later commuted to 40 years in prison, Abu Dhabi-headquartered newspaper The National reported.
Younis belongs to Israel’s Arab minority, most of whom identify as Palestinians, according to AFP.
“It was 40 years full of stories, prisoners’ stories and each story is a story of a nation,” Younis said after his release.
“I am very proud to be one of those who made sacrifices for Palestine and we were ready to sacrifice more for the sake of the cause of Palestine,” he was quoted as saying by The National.
As per Al Jazeera, Younis was a “key figure in the Palestinian struggle”. “He is seen as somebody who was a rising star within Palestinian politics when he was arrested and charged with murder,” Al Jazeera‘s Imran Khan said.
Karim Younis was arrested for killing an Israeli soldier. AP File Photo
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said Younis “represents a symbol of the Palestinian people and the free people of the world in steadfastness”, reported BBC.
Younis’s cousin, Maher Younis, who was also convicted of Bromberg’s murder, is also expected to be freed in two weeks, as per Times of Israel.
Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group mentioned that Younis was among those prisoners who were supposed to be released in 2013 as part of a deal mediated by the then-US secretary of state John Kerry, but the negotiation fell through.
Comparing his release to a “military operation”, Younis told Al Jazeera that he was shifted between different police cars before being dropped off at a bus station in Ra’anana. He then contacted his family with the help of a passerby.
Younis’s brother, Nadem, told AFP that his joy was “unlimited” but “incomplete” as their parents died during his sibling’s imprisonment.
“His hair and wrinkles have changed, but his resilience increased and multiplied dozens of times,” Nadem said of his brother.
Upon his release, Younis visited his aunt, Maher’s mother, before going to the graves of his parents, Palestinian Wafa news agency reported as per The National.
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Family told not to ‘mark’ release
National Security minister Itamar Ben Gvir ordered Younis’ release before dawn in order to prevent festivities outside the jail, Channel 13 reported.
Citing Kan News, Times of Israel said in its article that Ben Gvir has also told police to monitor public celebrations in Younis’ village.
Israeli military intelligence also told Younis’ family before his release not to “mark it”, as per Al Jazeera report.
But apparently, the instructions were disregarded.
Israeli minister calls for revoking citizenship
Younis’ release comes days after Israel’s “most right-wing government in its history” was sworn in, noted The National.
Several ministers have called for harsher action against Palestinian prisoners, including those with Israeli citizenship.
Earlier on Tuesday, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri wrote a letter to Israel’s attorney general asking for revoking the citizenship of Younis, saying such a move “has legal validity in circumstances when people use their Israeli citizenship to harm” Israel and its citizens, reported The National.
Bromberg’s nephew also called for stripping Younis’ citizenship.
“An Israeli citizen can’t hold an Israeli ID card with one hand and murder a soldier with another and it can’t be that the murderer will be freed from jail and walk around like anyone among our nation,” he told the Israeli Walla news.
Hitting out at Younis, Bromberg’s sister, Adah, told the Israel Hayom newspaper earlier that it was “unthinkable that such people should walk among us, laugh, and enjoy themselves”.
How many Palestinians are jailed by Israel?
According to the Palestinian human rights group Addameer, around 4,700 Palestinian prisoners are currently held in Israeli prisons, including 150 kids and 835 administrative detainees, who are held without charge or trial.
In 2021 alone, the Israeli military arrested about 8,000 Palestinians, including over 1,300 minors and 184 women, Al Jazeera reported.
With inputs from agencies
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