Ismail Afaneh with his family after his release.

JERUSALEM, Tuesday, January 14, 2020 (WAFA) - Israel today re-detained a Palestinian man as he was getting ready to leave prison after serving 18 years behind bars for resisting the Israeli occupation, according to local sources.

Ismail Afaneh, 39, from Sur Baher neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem, was arrested on 5 January 2002 and sentenced to 18 years in prison. He was supposed to be released today but as he was getting ready to leave the Naqab prison in the south of Israel, he was re-detained and sent for interrogation at the Russian Compound police station in West Jerusalem.

While no reason was given for his re-detention, source said the Israeli authorities often re-detain prisoners from occupied Jerusalem in order to sabotage the homecoming celebrations by family and friends and then releases them under strict conditions including not holding any celebrations for their release.\

(Updated at 3:00 pm local time: Israel later released Afaneh on condition he does not part in any celebration marking his release from prison.)

M.K.