Gaza – Mohamed Habib
Havng hoped his son would be included in the prisoner exchange as part of the Shalit deal, father of Palestinian prisoner Tamer el-Derini – 28 years, from Beit Lahia, northern Gaza – was transferred to Kamal Adwan Hospital when he heard his son was excluded from the deal. He suffered a stroke as a result of the news. Derini has been detained since 2004 and was sentenced for 20 years, after attempting to execute a suicide mission in Abu Iskandar, in Beit Hanoun north of Gaza Strip, in response to the Israeli attacks on north of the Gaza Strip which resulted in many deaths. Derini’s father lies in a serious coma at Adwan hospital, whereas his wife explains that her husband has been waiting for 7 years for his son’s return. The mother does not understand why her son was excluded from the deal, while other prisoners with greater sentences have been released, calling on Palestinian resistance to kidnap more soldiers to be able to exchange them with the rest of the prisoners in captivity. Tamer Derini’s brother, Jamal, said “We had hope that my brother would return from prison, especially after the first stage of the exchange deal was completed, so all hope had evaporated after we heard that the second stage does not include Tamer.” Jamal urged the resistance to include his brother’s name in any upcoming deals, in addition to kidnapping more prisoners to be able to exchange them, noting that the administration of Ofer Prison has put his brother in solitary confinement on account of problems occurring with the administration, which later resulted in his transfer to Beersheba Prison. Derini’s other brother Shihab said that he did not lose hope in his brother’s release, believing that the resistance will do its best to release the rest of the prisoners through other exchange deals. Shihab Derini noted that his father had 4 strokes since Tamer’s detention; the last one being the most serious to date.