Israeli expert: Decision to release Awawdeh was taken by Lapid, Gantz

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Israeli Arab affairs expert Yoni Ben-Menachem stated on Monday that the decision to release [Palestinian prisoner] Khalil Awawdeh was taken by the Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and the Minister of Security Benny Gantz.

Ben-Menachem added, quoting high-ranking political parties, that the "secret negotiations with the Egyptians to release Awawdeh were conducted behind the scenes after Egyptian intelligence succeeded in temporarily calming the Islamic Jihad in order to facilitate negotiations with Israel."

Ben-Menachem emphasized that the Egyptians were angry given that they claimed that "Israel" had vowed before them to release prisoners Awawdeh and Al-Saadi.

“Egyptian Intelligence General, Major General Abbas Kamel, canceled his scheduled visit to Israel, forcing Prime Minister Yair Lapid to dispatch head of the Shin Bet intelligence service Ronen Bar to Egypt in an attempt to mend the fences," he noted.

It is worth mentioning that Palestinian Prisoner Khalil Awawdeh suspended his open hunger strike after 172 days, following a written agreement that set a ceiling for his administrative detention and ensures his release on October 2.

According to Mohjat Al-Quds, the agreement stipulates that prisoner Khalil Awawdeh be kept in the "Assaf Harofeh" Hospital until he recovers.

After his victory in the battle of empty stomachs against the Israeli occupation, Prisoner Khalil Awawdeh told Al Mayadeen that "as soon as the freedom decision was issued, all the misery, pain and hunger disappeared."

In March, Awawdeh began an open-ended hunger strike to demand his release, knowing that he was arbitrarily arrested as per the Israeli occupation's arbitrary administrative detention policy, and his lawyer said he has only been only drinking water for 172 days.