Israeli authorities place released Jordanian prisoner 'under house arrest' — activist

AMMAN — The Israeli occupation forces have denied a Jordanian, who had been released from prison after serving his sentence, permission to leave Palestine for the Kingdom, according to an activist familiar with the case.

“After serving a 26-month prison term in Israel, Mohammad Taher was not able to come back to Jordan because the occupation forces placed him under effective house arrest in Israel,” Shireen Nafe, a member of the media team supporting Jordanian prisoners in Israel, Fedaa, told The Jordan Times in remarks late last week.

Taher, 27, served his sentence in Israel after being convicted of membership in the Islamist Hamas group, which Israel views as a terrorist organisation. 

Nafe said most Jordanian prisoners in Israel face similar restrictions after their release, citing the case of another Jordanian, Ayman Adam, who was released on August 3 and had also been refused permission to travel back to Amman.

Currently, there are about 25 Jordanian prisoners in Israeli jails, according to Fedaa.

“The Jordanian-Israeli Peace Treaty should have included an agreement to facilitate the return of released prisoners to the Kingdom,” Nafe said.

But Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ashraf Khasawneh told The Jordan Times on Sunday that Taher resides in the West Bank, not Jordan.

Khasawneh said the ministry had no other information on the case, adding that the families of the released prisoners did not contact it.