Life sentences reinstated for Palestinian freed in 2011

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – An Israeli court on Monday reinstated two life sentences handed down earlier against a Palestinian prisoner who had been freed as part of a 2011 prisoner swap, according to a Palestinian NGO.

In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoners Society said that Israel’s Ofer military court had reinstated two life-in-prison terms -- plus another 30 years behind bars -- against Nayef Radwan, a Palestinian who hails from the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Radwan had already served 17 years in an Israeli prison when he was released in 2011 as part of an Egypt-brokered prisoner swap between Israel and Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Under the deal’s terms, more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners were freed in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured by Hamas in 2006.

Radwan, however, was rearrested in 2014 by the Israeli authorities following the murder of three Jewish settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron (Al-Khalil).