War on Gaza: Israel re-arrests Palestinian teenager freed in captive deal after killing brother
Israeli forces on Thursday shot dead a Palestinian and re-arrested his teenage brother in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, two months after the latter was originally freed as part of a captive deal.
Ahmed Walid Khashan, 18, was released from an Israeli jail on 25 November in a deal with Hamas brokered by Qatar and Egypt.
According to the Palestine Prisoner’s Club (PPC), Khashan is the brother of Wissam Khashan, a 24-year-old who was killed earlier on Thursday by Israeli soldiers, and he has spent six years in Israeli prisons.
Ahmed was originally arrested on 10 September 2022 and was sentenced to three years in prison, PPC said.
This is not the first time Israeli forces have re-arrested a Palestinian who was freed as part of the deal.
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On Wednesday, another Palestinian teenager, identified as Youssef al-Khatib was also arrested after being released in the deal in November.
The PPC condemned the re-arrest of the freed Palestinians as a “clear violation of the deals that were completed, and is a dangerous indication of the occupation’s policy of re-arresting freed people, even though these deals were made in the framework of a truce".
Ahmed's brother, Wissam, was killed by gunfire during an Israeli army raid near the city of Jenin in the village of Bir al-Basha, according to local media.
According to eyewitnesses and journalists on the ground, Israeli forces surrounded homes in the town and used loudspeakers to call on civilians to surrender.
The Israeli forces present at the scene called for reinforcements, eventually putting the neighbourhood under complete siege. The Palestinian news agency Wafa also reported early on Thursday that Israeli bulldozers were stationed at the al-Marah neighbourhood in Jenin.
Israeli police said that undercover police officers killed a "Palestinian gunman and arrested a second" during a raid in Bir al-Basha on Thursday, adding that they were suspected of shooting at Israeli forces.
Exchange deal
The temporary truce between Gaza and Israel that saw some captives freed started on 24 November. It was initially set to last for four days but was extended twice after negotiations with mediation from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.
During what became a week-long pause in fighting, 240 Palestinians were released from Israeli jails in exchange for 105 captives held in Gaza.
The exchanges took place on every day of the truce, with 30 Palestinians freed each day, usually in return for around 10 Israeli captives.
The Palestinian detainees released consisted of women and young people.
CNN reported that of the 150 Palestinians released at the time, 98 had never been charged.
Since the start of the war on 7 October, Israeli attacks have killed at least 25,500 Palestinians in Gaza, plunging the enclave into a deep humanitarian crisis.
At least 360 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have also been killed by Israeli forces since 7 October, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
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