Longest-serving Palestinian prisoner released from Israeli prison

Karim Younis, 66, has been launched from Israeli prisons after serving 40 years for the killing of an Israeli soldier.

Karim Younis, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, was welcomed at his village, after being free of Israeli jail [Ammar Awad/Reuters]

Occupied East Jerusalem – The longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, Karim Younis, has been launched after serving 40 years in Israeli prisons.

Israeli jail authorities launched Younis, 66, from Hadarim jail simply north of Tel Aviv at daybreak on Thursday morning.

He was arrested in 1983 and charged in Israeli courts with the killing of an Israeli soldier within the occupied Syrian Golan Heights three years prior.

Younis hails from the Palestinian village of Ara inside Israel, the place massive crowds of family and pals greeted him on Thursday.

Younis spoke to Al Jazeera shortly after his launch, evaluating it to a “army operation”.

He stated that he had been moved between totally different police automobiles earlier than being dropped off at a location that turned out to be a bus station in Ranana, a city north of Tel Aviv. There, he was capable of get involved along with his household, with the assistance of a passer-by.

Reporting from Ara, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan stated Younis was launched at 5:30am (02:30GMT) and that folks had poured into the streets of his village to welcome him.

“He was a key determine within the Palestinian battle,” stated Khan. “He's seen as someone who was a rising star inside Palestinian politics when he was arrested and charged with homicide.”

Whereas the overwhelming majority of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are from the occupied West Financial institution, Younis is a Palestinian citizen of Israel.

“The Palestinians say he was merely resisting the occupation, the Israelis say this was an inner Israeli matter. He was initially sentenced to life, which was then commuted to 40 years. He's being launched merely for the truth that he served his sentence,” added Khan.

Israeli army intelligence visited Younis’ household previous to his launch and “instructed them to not mark it”, stated Khan. Nonetheless, it seems that the household and villagers in Ara have disregarded these directions.

Younis stated that officers got here to his cell within the early hours of the morning and instructed him he was to be launched. “I wished to bathe and prepare, however they prevented me,” he stated.

Younis was ultimately picked up by a relative and delivered to his hometown of Ara.

Israeli authorities haven't commented on the stories.

Upon his launch, Younis visited the grave of his mom who died eight months in the past, with pictures of him emotional on the grave shared by native and worldwide media shops.

الأسير المحرر كريم يونس يحتضن قبر والدته التي توفيت قبل 8 أشهر من موعد حريته#الجزيرةpic.twitter.com/mzDQlsvIwZ

— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) January 5, 2023

[Translation: Freed prisoner Karim Younis hugs the grave of his mother who died eight months before his date of release]

There are some 4,700 Palestinian prisoners at present held in Israeli prisons, together with 150 kids and 835 folks held with out trial or cost.