Lawmaker Khalida Jarrar after her release from Israeli prison following serving 20 months in administrative detention. (WAFA Images / Adi Deibis)

JENIN, Thursday, February 28, 2019 (WAFA) – Israeli authorities today morning released Palestinian leftist lawmaker after being held for 20 months in administrative detention.

Jarrar, a 56-year-old member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was released at the Salem military checkpoint, west of the northern West Bank city of Jenin.

Jarrar, a prominent figure on the Palestinian political scene, was detained for being a member in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and staunch advocate of prisoners’ rights and human rights organization.

Following her release, Jarrar said that she left behind many Palestinian female prisoners behind Israeli bars who are still yearning for freedom.

Commenting on her early release, she said she was scheduled to be released today noon at al-Jalama checkpoint, north of Jenin, but was released hours earlier than expected. She believes this was an attempt to prevent a festive reception.

The Palestinian lawmaker has been barred by Israel from leaving the West Bank since 1998.

This was not the first time Jarrar had been placed under administrative detention without charge or trial. She was detained from her house in the central West Bank city of al-Bireh on April 2, 2015, and had served a month in administrative detention in 1989.

Some 15 months after being released from that term, she was again placed under administrative detention, which was repeatedly extended, on July 2, 2017, serving for 20 consecutive months.

The Palestine Prisoner’s Society said that following Jarrar’s release, 49 female Palestinians are still held in Israeli jails, including the mothers of three Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and one who is still placed under administrative detention.

Since the 2006 general elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, 40% of the members of the Palestinian parliament, the Legislative Council (PLC), have been detained by the Israeli authorities at one time or another.

More than 495 Palestinians are held in Israeli administrative detention, including 5 parliament members, as a procedure that allows the Israeli military to hold prisoners indefinitely on secret information without charging them or allowing them to stand trial.

K.T./ K.F.