Palestinian Prisoners Freed By Egypt, Arrive In Gaza

Friday March 04, 2011 16:16 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip reported that a number of Palestinian prisoners who were detained by Egypt arrived on Thursday evening at the Rafah Border Terminal between the Gaza Strip and Egypt after being released by the Egyptian Authorities.

The Egyptian Side Of The Rafah Border Terminal - File

The sources stated that twelve Palestinian prisoners were let go by the Egyptian Authorities on Thursday morning; they were imprisoned at the Al Aqrab Egyptian Detention Facility.

The Arab Organization For Human Rights, based in Britain, stated that there are more than 32 Palestinian political prisoners who are still imprisoned by Egypt.

The organization called on Egypt to release all detained political prisoners, and to allow them back into the Gaza Strip.

Dozens of Palestinians, mainly members of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad are imprisoned by Egypt while most of the prisoners, who were previously released, told the media that extreme torture was practiced against them by Egyptian interrogators.

In 2009, Yousef Abu Zuhri, 38, the brother of Hamas spokesperson, Sami Abu Zuhri, died in an Egyptian prison due to extreme torture.

During the latest popular protests that led to ousting the regime of former Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, dozens of Palestinian and Egyptian detainees and prisoners managed to escape from a number of Egyptian prisons.

All of the Palestinian political prisoner in Egypt were detained without any charges or trial, an issue that caused rift between Hamas and the Egyptian Authorities.

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