Israeli prison authorities are refusing to return the body of author and activist Walid Daqqa to his family following his death in detention on 7 April.
Daqqa had spent the majority of his life in Israeli custody and was one of the longest-serving Palestinian prisoners. He had been terminally ill with cancer.
Israeli authorities arrested Daqqa when he was 24 years old in March 1986 for allegedly participating in armed resistance as a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a leftist political party. He was sentenced to life in prison, which was later reduced to 37 years.
He completed his 37-year sentence in March 2023.
However, in 2018, his detention was extended by two years by Israeli authorities, citing allegations of smuggling phones into his cell.
His new release date had been scheduled for March 2025.
Daqqa hailed from the Palestinian city of Baqa al-Gharbiyye in Israel. He authored multiple books in prison. …..more
