Jerusalem Agency – Agencies –

The Israeli occupation’s attacks on prisoners and liberated Jerusalemites in the occupied city of Jerusalem escalated, and affected dozens of their families, by stealing millions of shekels from their bank accounts and imposing financial fines on them, under the pretext of “supporting terrorism.”

This attack consisted of seizing vehicles and bank accounts, confiscating gold jewelry and money, storming homes, searching them, and vandalizing their contents, amid the occupation’s orgy and abuse against Jerusalem’s prisoners inside the occupation’s prisons. This Israeli policy is considered a step to undermine the situation of prisoners, freed persons and their families, and deprive them of living in dignity, in light of the difficult economic conditions that Jerusalemites suffer from.

The occupation authorities were not satisfied with that, but imposed financial fines amounting to hundreds of thousands of shekels, despite their confiscation at the expense of the Jerusalemite and liberated prisoners in banks, and the confiscation of funds and vehicles.

About 10 days ago, the occupation forces launched an unprecedented campaign that targeted dozens of families of prisoners and liberated Jerusalemites, who numbered about 160 individuals, and the occupation’s revenues amounted to millions of shekels.

“An unfair and hateful measure”

Chairman of the Committee for the Families of Prisoners and Detainees in Jerusalem, Amjad Abu Assab, says: “This is an unjust, criminal, and hateful Israeli measure, which involves theft and piracy of the money of our Palestinian people.” Abu Assab confirms that the occupation authorities practice extremism and hatred against the Palestinian people, pointing out that the campaign affected 160 individuals, half of whom were prisoners and freed, and the rest were families of the prisoners.

For his part, the director of the Prisoner’s Club in Jerusalem, Nasser Qaws, says: “This is an old and new attack carried out by the previous and new occupation governments, and it is considered a new catastrophe against the prisoners and their families in Jerusalem.” Qaws confirms that the fierce attack launched by the occupation against our people leads to instability in the city, deprives the prisoners of “canteen” allocations inside the occupation prisons, and negatively affects their lives and their families’ social and livelihood, and these are collective punitive measures.

A few days ago, the occupation forces stormed several homes of prisoners and freed persons, including Obaida Al-Taweel, Musa Derbas, Muhammad Al-Firawi, Ahmed Abu Sneina, the prisoner Ahmed Manasra, and others.

The freed prisoner, Muhammad Musa Derbas, explains that the occupation intelligence stormed his father’s house in the village of Al-Issawiya, searched it thoroughly and wreaked havoc, without finding any money or gold jewelry, and confiscated his vehicle. The prisoner, Derbas, spent 7 years and his brother Hakim 5 years in the occupation prisons. The occupation authorities were not satisfied with that, but imposed on Hakim to pay a fine of 77 thousand shekels, seized Muhammad’s bank account, and forced him to pay a fine of 87 thousand shekels.

Derbas says: “The campaign of raids, detentions, and confiscations included 34 prisoners, a Jerusalemite prisoner, a freed man, a wife, a mother, and a father of a prisoner from Issawiya, and the value of the fines imposed on them amounted to between 16,000 and 139,000 shekels, and at the level of Jerusalem, the highest was 277,000 shekels.”

The occupation also seized the bank account of the freed prisoner, Yaman Al-Awar, and confiscated her money, while the Jerusalemite prisoner, Majdi Al-Zaatari, demanded that the settlers be paid compensation worth 34 million shekels, knowing that he has been a prisoner since 2003, and has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Al-Fayrawi family was surprised when the occupation intelligence and police stormed their home in the African community in the Old City, searched it thoroughly, and vandalized its contents, while they did not find any money in the house.

The mother of the freed prisoner, Muhammad Al-Firawi, revealed that the occupation authorities seized 107 thousand shekels from her husband Hassan’s bank account, even though the amount was retirement benefits from his work in the Jerusalem municipality.

In an interview with her, Al-Firawi pointed out that the occupation imposed a seizure on her husband’s vehicle and his son’s vehicle because it was registered in the name of her imprisoned son, and imposed a fine on him worth 107 thousand shekels.