Israel to Indict Sick Palestinian Teen Freed in Prisoner Deal, Alongside Six Others from Jerusalem
Occupied Jerusalem (Quds News Network)- Israeli prosecutors will file charges on Thursday against seven Palestinian teens from the town of al-Issawiya in the eastern part of Jerusalem. One of them is 18-year-old Reda Obaid, a former detainee released in the recent prisoner exchange between Hamas and the occupation state.
The detainees, most of them children, were arrested in April. Israel accuses them of throwing Molotov cocktails at Route 1, the highway leading to the Ma’ale Adumim settlement east of Jerusalem.
Reda Obaid, who suffers from a severe skin disease known as scabies, was re-arrested just three months after his release in the January exchange. Images of his emaciated body and visible skin infection made headlines at the time. He is now held in solitary confinement and faces new charges.
The Prisoners’ Media Office said Obaid’s detention has been extended until May 4. He continues to suffer from severe chest pain and untreated skin disease, both worsened by the conditions of his previous imprisonment.
Obaid was among the Palestinian prisoners freed in November 2023 under the al-Aqsa Flood prisoner exchange deal.
His lawyer, Mohammad Mahmoud of Wadi Hilweh Information Center, told Al Jazeera that the public prosecutor’s decision to indict means none of the boys will be released soon. He added that 70% of child arrests in the occupied Palestinian capital city target children from al-Issawiya. “It’s extremely difficult for minors to be granted release, especially when they face accusations of throwing stones or firebombs,” he said.
Obaid’s re-arrest has raised concerns about the targeting of released detainees. Human rights groups say Israel has pursued a campaign of harassment against those freed in recent exchange deals with Hamas.
Over 10 children have been detained or interrogated in the past month. Four women released in the same exchange, including Fadwa Hamada and Nufouth Hammad, now face renewed legal action.
Adult detainees, too, have been summoned for questioning or served with verbal and written orders banning them from the Old City and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
