AL JIB: Looking tiny in his adult-size grey prison jumpsuit, 15-year-old Palestinian Ezzeddine al-Lahalia appeared stunned as his mother embraced him after a month in an Israeli jail.
His first request was a child’s wish for his favourite food: stuffed cabbage and shawarma.
The teenager, who had been charged with throwing stones, was reunited with his family on Thursday night in an emotional scene witnessed by journalists.
Ezzeddine’s mother held back tears as she kissed his cheeks, while the older men released alongside him greeted their wives and children.
Then Israeli troops fired tear gas, interrupting the families’ reunions.
Lahalia, from the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Sair, reunited with his family in the village of Al Jib near Jerusalem, where Israeli authorities typically release Palestinian prisoners on Thursdays.’After the Israelis brought the prisoners out, after we had received them, they fired tear gas,’ Ezzeddine’smother, Rania Jaradat, said, adding that the scene was reminiscent of when soldiers took the boy from the family home on Oct 14.
‘They were afraid that the families would assemble near the gate and celebrate,’ she said.
After Lahalia’s release, she said ‘the first thing he asked for was stuffed cabbage and shawarma’. She happily complied.
He was released after the family paid 5,000 shekels (around $1,500) in bail.
As the eldest of five, his absence was particularly felt by his younger siblings.
‘They’re happy that I’ve returned, but they were very distressed while I wasn’t with them,’ Ezzeddine said.
According to the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, 9,300 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli jails, including 350 minors.-AFP