Israel Confirms It Will Release Detained Jordanians This Week

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed on Monday an announcement by Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi that later this week Israel would release two Jordanians who have been held without charge since this summer. The release was agreed in negotiations between the head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency and his Jordanian counterpart. As part of the deal, Jordan’s ambassador, who was recalled last week over the issue, will return to his post in Tel Aviv. The Jordanian citizens, Hiba Labadi and Abdul Rahman Miri, were arrested on suspicion of unspecified “serious security violations,” according to the Shin Bet. Labadi, 24, who was arrested in August, was hospitalized after going on a monthlong hunger strike to protest her detention. Miri, 29, who was arrested in September, has been battling cancer since 2010. Human rights organizations have criticized the use of administrative detention, which Israel applies against people suspected of security offenses when it wishes to avoid a trial. The Israel human rights group B’tselem reports that, as of August 2019, 413 Palestinians, including two women and one minor, were being held in Israeli administrative detention, usually for up to six months though in some cases for two years or more.