Maher Younis, a Palestinian prisoner, was released from an Israeli jail after 40 years.
Maher Younis, the second-longest-serving Palestinian in Israeli prisons, was detained in 1983 and found guilty in Israeli courts of murdering an Israeli soldier in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Syria in 1980 along with his cousin Karim Younis. Palestinian prisoner, embraced freedom on Thursday morning after spending 40 years in Israeli jails, according to the Palestinian News Agency.
Maher, 65, was freed from the Eshel prison in southern Israel, close to Beer Sabe’ (Beer Sheva).
Maher visited his father’s grave after being freed; he passed away in 2008. When he arrived at his house, when he was taken into custody at the age of 25, his mother overwhelmed him with flowers.
He was detained In 1983 and later charged with the murder of an Israeli soldier in the 1980 Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights together with his cousin Karim Younis.
Maher and Karim received hanging as their method of execution. Their first sentence of 40 years in jail was then modified to life in prison in 2011.
Maher held the position of Dean of Prisoners for the preceding two weeks; until his cousin Karim was released on January 5, 2023, no one else had held that position.
According to the Prisoners’ Club, Israel imprisons 4,700 Palestinians, including 150 minors and 29 women.
