Rights groups call for release of political detainee Alaa al-Araj

The group 'Lawyers for Justice' has issued an urgent appeal for the release of political detainee engineer Alaa Samih al-Araj, held by the Authority's security forces in Nablus for the eighth consecutive day. His family awaits the birth of his child today in a Nablus hospital, demanding his immediate release. The group stressed that his continued detention violates his rights and harms his family's rights. It called on local and international human rights institutions to act and demanded the Palestinian security services end his detention.

The group 'Lawyers for Justice' has issued an urgent appeal for the release of political detainee engineer Alaa Samih al-Araj, held by the Authority's security forces in Nablus for the eighth consecutive day. In a statement, the group said it is following the continued detention of al-Araj, while his family awaits the birth of his child today in a Nablus hospital, demanding his immediate release and enabling him to stand by his wife and attend the birth. The group explained that al-Araj was previously deprived of attending the birth of his two children due to his imprisonment in occupation prisons, and today he is again deprived of this human moment due to his continued detention over his social activity in recent years. It stressed that his continued detention at this time constitutes a violation of his rights and harms his family's rights. The group called on local and international human rights institutions to take urgent action and demanded the Palestinian security services end his detention. According to local sources and his family, the Authority's security forces in Nablus arrested al-Araj after summoning him for an interview last Sunday. Al-Araj (38), a civil engineer from Tulkarm, is a freed prisoner who was arrested by occupation forces several times since 2013, including administrative detentions. The occupation authorities released him about a year ago after a two-year administrative detention in Negev prison. The occupation had previously arrested al-Araj in 2021, and he spent 14 months in administrative detention, during which he waged a long hunger strike. In 2022, al-Araj waged a hunger strike battle that lasted 103 days, ending with the occupation canceling his administrative detention order.