Jordanian prisoner released from Israeli jail

AMMAN — Jordanian prisoner in Israel Hamzeh Dabbas was released on Friday after serving a 45-month prison term, an activist said Sunday.

Israeli forces arrested Dabbas on the King Hussein Bridge in 2011 while he was travelling to Hebron to attend his sister’s wedding, Shireen Nafe, a member of the media team supporting Jordanian prisoners in Israel, Fedaa, said.

“Israel charged Dabbas with belonging to Hamas and transferring money [to the group],” Nafe told The Jordan Times over the phone.

In 2011, Dabbas was part of an aid convoy organised by the Jordan Engineers Association to alleviate the suffering of Gazans, according to the Fedaa member.

“After his release, he asked the prison administration to send him directly to the bridge to return to Jordan,” Nafe said, but his passport was lost and could not be found in the prison’s files and prisoners’ belongings.

At the time of his release, Dabbas was in Naqab prison, Nafe noted.

Dabbas, 33, was among five prisoners who went on hunger strike between May and August 2013 until Israeli prison authorities agreed to allow regular visits by their families.