Al Mayadeen interviews the mother of the 'Dean of Gazan prisoners'
7 Min Read
The mother of Dia Al-Agha says that the only way to liberate Palestinian prisoners is by kidnapping Israeli soldiers and imposing an exchange deal.
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Palestinian prisoner Dia Al-Agha kissing the hand of his mother Najat Al-Agha while she was visiting him in the Israeli occupation prison.
On October 10 of the first Palestinian intifada in 1992, Israeli newspapers published reports about a 16-year-old boy from Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip who carried out an operation using a farming pick in the "Gush Katif" occupation settlement, which was established on the lands of Gaza before "Israel's" withdrawal in 2005, resulting in the death of a senior Israeli officer.
The 16-year-old Palestinian was later identified as Dia al-Agha, while it was revealed that the dead Israeli official, Metsa Ben Haim, was a member of the Israeli elite unit Sayeret Matkal.
Sayaret Matkal, the Israeli equivalent of US Delta Force and British SAS, whose motto is "Who Dares Wins", was tasked with carrying out high-profile assassinations, one of which was of three of the most prominent leaders of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) in the Lebanese capital, Beirut in 1973; Kamal Nasser, Abu Youssef al-Najjar, and Kamal Adwan.
Metsa Ben Haim also participated in the bombing of 13 planes at Beirut International Airport in 1968, and was part of the team that assassinated the great Palestinian leader Khalil Al-Wazir, known as "Abu Jihad", in Tunisia in 1988.
With great bravery and courage, Dia carried out the heroic operation targeting the highly secretive assassination unit, killing one of its senior leaders who was also responsible for the security of the "Gush Katif" settlement at the time.
Dia becomes the "Father of the Prisoners"
Al-Agha, 48 years old, has so far spent more than half of his life in prison, and is the longest-serving Palestinian detainee from Gaza in Israeli occupation prisons. He is known today as the "Dean of the prisoners of the Gaza Strip".
The Palestinian hero completed his university studies while in prison, graduated from Al-Quds Open University with a major in history, and obtained a high school diploma 3 times.
Al Mayadeen Net interviewed Dia's mother, Najat al-Agha, "Um Dia", at their family home in the city of Khan Yunis in Gaza, where she allowed Al Mayadeen's team a look into the house that she built for her son Diaa for when he is freed.
The 70-year-old Najat, who is known as Um Dia despite him not being her eldest son, has become a well-known face in all occasions and activities to support heroic Palestinians in Israeli occupation prisons who are exposed to brutal violence and oppression on daily basis.
Um Dia is the only one among Dia's family members who is allowed to visit her son, and she is allowed the visits by the occupation on very rare occasions and only for 45 minutes. She describes the process to reach the visiting room as a "piece of hell" and an "agonizing and tormenting experience", where she would be subjected to "humiliating inspection procedures inside prisons and belittling treatment on checkpoints". But all of the pain pales in comparison to the joy she feels when remembers that she will see her child eventually.
#فلسطين غالية على الشعب الفلسطيني، نُضحي من أجلها إذا طلبتنا، و #القدس نلبيها🇵🇸
— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) March 26, 2023
والدة الأسير #ضياء_الأغا لـ #الميادين👇 @OsamaNH pic.twitter.com/7fKbW95TwW
Always a rebel
Dia was in the ninth grade when he carried out the operation, Um Dia told Al Mayadeen; he was loved by the people in the area, and was known for his patriotism and drive to resist the occupation.
"He used to write on the walls against the occupation entity until his handwriting became known to people, and hurled stones at the soldiers as soon as they passed by in the street," she said.
As soon as the people heard the sound of the occupation's fire in the area, they would say, "By God, it must be the work of Dia," she added.
Dia’s mother recalled that on October 10, 1992, after he returned home, changed his clothes, and washed his hands, he stood next to her and said, “Forgive me." Um Dia said that she did not know the reason for his apology at the time, but his usual affectionate nature drove her not to think too much of it.
"Then he left the house and they arrested him, and he hasn't come back since."
She pointed out that her son was detained for 9 months in interrogation rooms and in solitary confinement in a detention center for female prisoners because there was no facility for young prisoners then, and he was too young to be sentenced to life imprisonment, so the occupation waited until Dia was 17 years old and sentenced him to 99 years in prison.
"Dia went to prison a child, and now he has become a man," she said grieving.
Dia suffered a brutal interrogation, during which he was exposed to various forms of torture inside the “interrogation dungeons and cells.” The Israeli military court first sentenced him to life in prison and then later added several life sentences to his term.
Um Dia held the only physical photo she had of Dia, which was taken in prison. She also showed the Al Mayadeen team two other photos she had on her phone, one in which Dia is kissing her hand, and another one of him embracing her; it seems clear in the picture that Dia and his mother were unable to break away from their embrace.
Dia's father passed away in 2005, and at that time both he [Dia] and his brother Mohammed was a prisoner, with the latter also serving a 12-year sentence. The Israeli occupation refused to allow the two brothers from attending their father's funeral and bidding him farewell for the last time.
"I no longer have any wish in this life, except to see Dia and embrace him, and rejoice in seeing him get married.”
شعوري بلقائي مع ابني #ضياء_الآغا، أحلم فيه، والأسرى في السجون كلهم أولادي🇵🇸
— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) March 26, 2023
والدة الأسير #ضياء_الأغا لـ #الميادين👇 @OsamaNH pic.twitter.com/OsF1fJJ1lQ
Dia was scheduled to be released in late March 2014, within the framework of an internationally-mediated prisoner exchange between the Palestinian Resistance and the Israeli occupation entity, in which the Resistance was set to release Gilad Shalit in return for a number of Palestinian detainees in occupation prisons. But "Israel" reneged on its commitments at the time.
Through Al Mayadeen Net, Um Dia sent a message to the Palestinian resistance, in which she said, "The only way to bring back our children is by kidnapping Israeli soldiers."
There is no hope to freeing prisoners sentenced to life by the occupation except through an exchange deal that would be imposed on the occupation.
She concluded her interview with Al Mayadeen Net by saying: "I am speaking on behalf of all the prisoners, all of them are my children, and I am their mother and I love them, and my message to them through you [Al Mayadeen], is to stand strong, and God willing, you will be back with us; patience is the key to relief."
