The Israeli Prison Service on Monday released two Palestinian prisoners who had both served 18-year sentences, a Palestinian official told Ma'an.
Head of the Palestinian Authority Committee for Prisoners' Affairs in Jerusalem, Amjad Abu Asab, said the Israeli Prison Service at the Negev and Ramon prisons released the two prisoners Monday afternoon. Both prisoners are from occupied East Jerusalem.
One of the prisoners was identified as Samer Muhammad Moussa Hamadeh, 37, from Sur Baher village, the other as Nour Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Qassem, 38, from the Ras al-Amud neighborhood.
Abu Asab said that Hamadeh and Qassem were both detained and convicted of belonging to the Hamas movement and working with its military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, in August 1997.
The Israel Prison Service also released prisoner Muhamad Sharha from Jerusalem after spending 10 months in jail.
There are currently 5,750 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails and 401 administrative detainees who are being held without charge or trial, according to prisoners' rights group Addameer.
It is estimated that nearly 40 percent of the male Palestinian population in the occupied Palestinian territory have been detained by Israeli forces.
