the Houthis believe they have been classified as a “terrorist organization” by Washington because of their support for the “oppressed Palestinian people”

Among the 90 Palestinian prisoners released overnight from Sunday to Monday by Israel, as part of the truce agreement concluded with Hamas, Khalida Jarrar, who is a member of the political bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), testified to Agence France-Presse (AFP) about “mistreatment” that she suffered in prison, accusations refuted by the Israeli prison administration. The PFLP is classified “terrorist organization” by Israel, the United States and the European Union.

M^me Jarrar has been repeatedly placed under administrative detention by Israel, a controversial measure that allows indefinite detention without formal charges. The last one dates back to December 2023: twenty months of detention between 2018 and 2019, M^me Jarrar being accused each time of “threaten the security of the state”. In 2015, a military court handed down fifteen charges against him, including for giving interviews, speeches and conferences, and for participating in marches and calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

“Since 1967, conditions have never been as harsh as today”she assures, evoking “frequent attacks”, “regular spraying of gas” as well as “insufficient and poor quality food rations”. She also denounces the “policy of isolation practiced by the occupation authorities”. Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons are “treated as if they were not human beings”she says.

Another prisoner released last week, Abla Saadat, the wife of PFLP secretary general Ahmed Saadat, also told AFP that Israeli prisons were “become cemeteries where prisoners feel cramped”. This feminist is a member of the leadership of the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, which Israel considers a “terrorist organization”. Like M^me Jarrar, Abla Saadat has been imprisoned more than once, but her last incarceration “was the most difficult”according to her.

In a response to AFP, Israeli prison authorities denied the two activists’ accusations. “We are not aware of these allegations. According to our information, no incident of this type has occurred in the prisons under our responsibility”they said in a press release. “Detainees have the right to file a complaint, which will be examined thoroughly”they specify.