Mohammed Walid Ali al-Aref martyred in Zionist prisons one week after his re-arrest

He was only in the occupation prisons for one week and was held in the notorious interrogation cells at the time of his martyrdom. Before his abduction by the occupation forces, he was healthy and well; he is married and the father of one child, and his wife is currently pregnant awaiting the birth of their second child. Given the circumstances of his martyrdom, it is clear that the attack on him is essentially an assassination behind bars, under torture in interrogation.

Mohammed Walid Ali al-Aref is a former prisoner who served 19 years inside the colonial Zionist prisons. During his time in prison, he was a leader in the prisoners’ movement and held several organizational positions, including representative of the Hamas prisoners in the Naqab desert prison and played an active role in struggles behind bars to defend the rights and achievements of imprisoned Palestinians.

He was released on 12 December 2021 in a celebration bringing together his family, loved ones, comrades and brothers in Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement.

The celebration of his release was attacked by Palestinian Authority “security forces” acting in “security coordination” with the Zionist regime, an attack condemned by — among others — the martyr Sheikh Khader Adnan, who was present for the welcoming occasion.

The martytdom of Mohammed Walid Hussein Ali al-Aref, held in Zionist prisons for only one week before he was martyred under interrogation, is part and parcel of the Zionist genocidal war on the Palestinian people and the Palestinian prisoners. He is now at least the 48th martyr of the prisoners’ movement since 7 October 2023, including 29 Palestinian prisoners from Gaza. It is clear that this number is incomplete, as at least dozens of Palestinians from Gaza were martyred under severe torture in the occupation prisons and detention camps, and the occupation has refused to release information about their names and the date of their martyrdom.

There are currently over 10,200 Palestinian prisoners held in Zionist prisons, although this number does not include all of the prisoners from Gaza, hundreds or thousands of whom have been subjected to enforced disappearance and whose names, locations, medical status and very life or death continue to be concealed by the occupation. There are at least 3443 Palestinians held under administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial (first brought to Palestine by the British colonial mandate and since enthusiastically adopted by the Zionist regime), 90 women prisoners and 270 imprisoned children, among this number.

All Palestinian prisoners are being subjected to medical abuse, extreme violence and deliberate starvation. The occupation regime recognizes that the Palestinian prisoners’ movement is a keystone of the Palestinian liberation struggle and is seeking to destroy it by all means, including the assassination of the prisoners. Palestinian prisoners from Gaza in particular have been subjected to systematic severe torture, gang rape, and extreme abuse, particularly in the notorious prison camps run specifically to torture Palestinians from Gaza without any kind of external observation.

𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐢 𝐚𝐥-𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚.

𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲𝐫!
𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚!