Nael Samir Halabi was released from Israeli occupation prison on Thursday, June 27th after completing his four-and-a-half-year sentence, which he spent in Nafha Desert Prison. Halabi’s family and friends expressed their happiness for his freedom and their situation, saying: “Despite the genocide that has been devastating the Gaza Strip for more than nine months, and the sadness and anger that still rage in the heart for Gaza, we do not hide our overwhelming joy at gaining freedom.

It is noteworthy that Halabi was arrested several times, as his first experience was when he was a child when he completed his high school diploma behind prison bars. He was last arrested at the Qalandiya checkpoint in October 2019, during which he was subjected to severe torture at the Al-Mascobiyya Investigation Center, and was sentenced to four and a half years.
He obtained a bachelor’s degree from Birzeit University and completed his higher education until he obtained a master’s degree, while in captivity.

He earned his university degree from behind bars

For more than twenty years, the Halabi family has only met together for a few months, as the occupation has always left one or more of its sons in captivity. It happened once that the four brothers (Nael, Raed, Rami, and Nasser) met in prison.
Nael was not allowed to attend the funeral of his father and was unable to say goodbye to him in his last days on earth.

The occupation also robbed him of the joy of sharing his two brothers’ wedding. It is noteworthy that Nael fought more than one hunger strike battle with the prisoner movement. He is also the cousin of the prisoner Khaled Halabi, who has been detained since 2001 and sentenced to 28 years.

To learn about the names of Christian prisoners in occupation prisons, click on the link here.