Freedom Tunnel hero Yaqoub Qadri enters 22nd year in Israeli prisons

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
18 Oct 2024 11:45

Qadri was first detained by Israeli occupation forces when he was only 15 years old, and several times after until his final arrest on October 18, 2003.

Palestinian detainee and freedom tunnel hero Yaqoub Qadri (Social Media)

One of the heroes of Operation Freedom Tunnel, Yaqoub Qadri, has been imprisoned in Israeli jails for 22 years now, after being detained on October 18, 2003.

Qadri, from the village of Beer al-Basha, in the Jenin governorate in the northern West Bank, was born in 1972. He was first detained by Israeli occupation forces when he was only 15 years old, and several times after until his final arrest on October 18, 2003.

An Israeli court sentenced him to life imprisonment twice, plus 35 years. His charges were belonging to and being a member of the al-Quds Brigades - the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement, and participating in operations against the occupation forces.

On September 6, 2021, Qadri was one of six prisoners who broke out of Gilboa Prison in an operation that shook the Israeli occupation's trust in its security system to the core.

On this day, 2 years ago, 6 #Palestinian heroes managed to break the shackles of injustice and break free from one of the most notorious Israeli prisons.

How did it happen?#OperationFreedomTunnel pic.twitter.com/qPVGRixNEr
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) September 6, 2023

While in solitary confinement, Qadri was subjected by Israeli occupation authorities to daily inspections, continuous harassment, and poor conditions in Ramon Prison.

In 2023, Qadri indicated that he was under a continuous attack in the prison, where he is subjected to day and night inspections, adding that repression units of the Israeli occupation prisons authority storm his room every three days.

Muhjat al-Quds said Qadri was monitored every 20 minutes by an Israeli jailer to check whether he is in his room, adding that he was also prevented from going to the prison clinic, and all medical treatments he used to receive were stopped.

The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs revealed in April 2024 that Qadri has been in solitary confinement for 32 consecutive months, stressing that the escalation against Qadri began after the Israeli occupation launched its retaliatory policy against all detainees on October 7, 2023.

Despite the horrors he had and still continues witnessing in Israeli prisons, Qadri managed to complete his educational journey by obtaining a bachelor's degree in history from the al-Aqsa University in Gaza, while in detention.