Israel puts restriction on life of released Palestinian prisoners

The Palestinian prisoners who were freed last month in a prisoner swap deal between Israel and the Islamic Hamas movement complained Tuesday that Israel put restriction on their daily life. According to Palestinian officials, Israel brought the freed prisoners, mainly in the West Bank, to the Israeli army headquarters for inquiry and banned them from traveling abroad. In the first stage of the Egyptian-brokered swap deal, Hamas freed Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was captive in the Gaza Strip since June 2006 while Israel released 477 Palestinian prisoners, among whom 300 went to the Gaza Strip, 40 expelled to several countries, and the rest sent to the West Bank.Palestinian sources said Tuesday that the Israeli authorities had brought 25 of the freed prisoners to Israeli army bases for questioning. The prisoners complained that they were kept for hours until the soldiers let them return home and asked them to come again the following day. Na'el Barghouti, one of the prisoners, told Xinhua that he received a request from the Israeli intelligence security on Monday, and when he went to an Israeli army base near Ramallah, he was questioned and held for hours. Barghouti, who had spent 34 years in Israeli jails, said that the Israeli security officers threatened to arrest him if he carries out any "hostile activity." "Israel wants to show us that it still controls the security situation in the West Bank and the soldiers can detain us again anytime," said Barghouti. Right after releasing the prisoners, Israeli army and security officials declared that they will not hesitate in detaining the prisoners again in case they renew their military activities against Israel. Israel also imposed tightened measures on the prisoners and refused to let them travel abroad for medical treatment or visiting relatives. One of the released prisoners, Amal Joma'a, who suffers from cancer, said her health condition deteriorated but she was banned from traveling to Jordan for medical therapy. Eassa Qaraqe'a, the Palestinian minister of prisoner affairs in the West Bank, told Xinhua that "Israel is using tightened measures against the prisoners because it considers itself above the law." Mohamed al-Katari, deputy minister of prisoner affairs of the de facto Hamas government that rules the Gaza Strip, told Xinhua that "the Israeli measures against the prisoners are irresponsible, violate the spirit of the deal and harden the freed prisoners life. " "The reached prisoner swap deal included guarantees not to re- arrest the prisoners after releasing them, disturb their daily life or impose on them any humanitarian restrictions such as preventing them from seeing their relatives," said al-Katari.