By: Daoud Kuttab
The Israeli authorities deported the freed prisoner Ibrahim Mas’ad Hani outside Palestine. He was exiled by the Israeli authorities to the Arab Republic of Egypt, instead of allowing him to return to his hometown of Ramallah, where his family resides. Legal experts said that the deportation is a violation of international law. Ibrahim had spent 19 years in Israeli prisons, having been sentenced to two life terms, in addition to an additional 25 years.

Eight Palestinian Christian prisoners remain in Israeli prisons, among approximately 10,000 Palestinian prisoners facing harsh conditions as a result of the escalating violations against them. These violations include systematic practices such as starvation, medical neglect, and deprivation of the most necessities of life guaranteed by international law, including preventing visits from clergy and depriving prisoners of the Holy Bible and the sacraments.
It is worth noting that 77 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons since October 7, as a result of torture, ill-treatment, and deliberate medical neglect.
The following are the names of the Palestinian Christian prisoners currently languishing in Israeli prisons:

John William Qaqish, Marwan Ibrahim Mu’adi, Lian Sami Nasser (convicted)
Rami Rizq Fadayel, Nael Samir Halabi (administrative detention – without charge or trial, and their detention is periodically renewed).
Samer Mina Arbid, Ramez Samir Awad, and Jeffrey Suleiman Qawas (detained without conviction).
Shadi Suhail Khoury, Rabie Rajai Awad, and Jovan Wadih Qatma have been temporarily released, but their trials are still ongoing.
In this context, the Cradle of the Orient Initiative issued a congratulatory message to the released prisoner Ibrahim Mas’ad, which read:

Mahd AlMashreq Initiative congratulated the recently freed political prisoner, Ibrahim Mas’ad Hani, from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Despite the good news, unfortunately, Ibrahim was exiled to Egypt. It is worth mentioning that he had been sentenced to two life terms plus an additional 25 years. He is the father of four children: Mas’ad, Hani, Khalil, and Ghadir. This coming Christmas will be the first holiday he celebrates with his family after nineteen years of imprisonment in Israeli jails.