Israeli regime arrests martyr Walid Daqqa's wife Sanaa

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
Today 00:03
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Israeli occupation forces arrest Sanaa Daqqa, widow of martyr Walid Daqqa, while traveling with her child, following calls by Police Minister Ben Gvir.

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Palestinians cross from the Israeli military Qalandia checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah to occupied al-Quds on Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP)

Israeli occupation forces on Thursday evening arrested Palestinian activist Sanaa Salameh Daqqa, the widow of martyred political prisoner Walid Daqqa, while she was returning from Ramallah to the Palestinian territories occupied since 1948.

According to Palestinian sources, the arrest took place at one of the occupation's military checkpoints. Sanaa Daqqa was traveling with her daughter, Milad Walid Daqqa, and another young girl when she was detained. The arrest reportedly followed public calls by Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to expel her.

Daqqa was martyred while incarcerated, and the Israeli occupation is still withholding his body over a year after his martyrdom. The family of martyr Daqqa announced that the occupation was still withholding his body, explaining that the decision to hand over the body lies with Ben-Gvir.

The family revealed that they were not aware of the occupation's transfer of Daqqa to the Israeli Assaf Harofeh Hospital until they learned of his martyrdom through the media instead of official channels.

In an interview with Al Mayadeen, the family confirmed that the occupation had prevented them from visiting the detainee and making contact with him since October 7, 2023, when the aggression on the Gaza Strip began, noting that his lawyer was later allowed to visit him only twice and with an Israeli court order.

He was martyred inside Assaf Harofeh Hospital on April 7, following a nearly four-decade-long struggle in Israeli occupation prisons.

Who was Walid Daqqa?

Daqqa was born in the town of Baqa al-Gharbiya, in northern occupied Palestinian '48 territories. He joined the ranks of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in 1983 and was assigned to a military cell of the front. Alongside his comrades in the PFLP, Daqqa conducted a series of operations against Israeli occupation forces and took captive Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam.

He was detained two years later and initially received a death sentence, which was later reduced to 37 years in prison. In 2018, the Israeli occupation added another two years to his sentence, on charges of smuggling phones to prisoners to help them communicate with their families.

A few years ago, his wife, Sanaa Salameh, was able to give birth to their daughter, Milad, after smuggling his sperm from prison. Upon discovering this, "Israel" imposed harsh penalties on Daqqa, admitting him to solitary confinement and restricting his visitation rights.

Daqqa is considered one of the most prominent writers and thinkers of the Palestinian Captive Movement. "Israel" punished him for his resistance, denying him access to proper medical care and early release despite his declining health.

His continued detention contradicted the 1993 Oslo Accords, which included a provision for the release of all Palestinian detainees held before the agreement was signed.

During his detention, Daqqa was denied the opportunity to bid farewell to his father before his passing or to visit his mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, a decade ago.

Despite being mentioned in four previous prisoner exchange deals, he was excluded from all of them. Additionally, he was unable to leave prison to meet his daughter, Milad, who used to accompany her mother to protests advocating for her father's release.

Daqqa endured acute pneumonia and renal failure, leading to surgery on April 12, 2023, during which a significant portion of his right lung was removed. Subsequently, he faced complications from the surgery, along with severe respiratory issues and infection.

Despite restrictions such as book bans, Daqqa attained bachelor’s and master’s degrees while in prison. Additionally, he authored novels, articles, and poems about the Palestinian Resistance against the Israeli occupation, which gained global recognition.