Gaza ceasefire deal: Palestinian leader Khalida Jarrar expected to be released

Relatives of Palestinian prisoner Khalida Jarrar were bracing on Saturday for her release in the first wave of exchanges agreed upon as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
The Palestinian political leader and human rights and feminist advocate has been held in administrative detention since December 2023. She has reportedly spent the past six months in solitary confinement in a 2-by-1.5m cell.
As the hour of the agreed releases approached, Palestinian and Israeli media reported that Jarrar would be among up to 1,900 Palestinian prisoners expected to be freed on Sunday.
Jarrar's sister, Salam Alratrot, told Middle East Eye that the prospect of the 61-year-old's release gave her hope that Jarrar would at least leave solitary confinement and end the harshest imprisonment she has ever endured.
However, Alratrot said her family feels “intense sadness and diminished joy” over the many tragedies Jarrar has suffered during her numerous periods of detention over the past three decades.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Jarrar’s father, daughter and nephew all died while she was behind bars, and Israeli authorities prevented her from attending any of their funerals.
Alratrot also said Jarrar has several medical conditions requiring immediate attention, as the Israeli prison administration stopped providing medical care to prisoners after the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023.
“Our tragedies are many, and there is no joy that makes us happy. But we are strong and the Israeli occupation cannot break us,” Alratrot told MEE.
“Our joy is not complete unless all of the prisoners are released.”
Decades of activism
Originally from Nablus, Jarrar began her activism as a teenager. She reportedly volunteered with a group that cleaned the local community and public schools against the wishes of many in her family who believed the work was more suited for boys.
Jarrar went on to become one of the most prominent leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a Palestinian nationalist and Marxist-Leninist faction designated as a terrorist group by Israel and the US.
In 2006, she was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the legislative body of the Palestinian Authority (PA), and was appointed to lead the prisoners' committee. She is credited with playing a leading role in cementing Palestine's accession to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2015.
In addition to supporting Palestinian prisoners, Jarrar has been deeply involved in human rights work for many years. She was arrested for the first time in 1989 after participating in a demonstration on International Women’s Day while reportedly trying to prevent one of her sisters from being arrested.
Over the past three decades, she has been arrested multiple times, often under administrative detention - a policy that allows Israeli authorities to hold individuals without charge or trial.
In 2015, she was arrested on charges of belonging to a banned organisation and was released in June 2016 after spending 15 months in detention.
'There will be a accumulation of efforts that will lead to change. We need to have hope that we will be victorious'
- Khalida Jarrar in 2016
After her release, Jarrar told activist and law professor Noura Erakat about how she and other prisoners established a school for young female inmates so they could continue their lives after they were released. Jarrar taught English.
"We need to be patient, not to lose hope, not to lose track," Jarrar told Erakat. "And there will be an accumulation of efforts that will lead to change. We need to have hope that we will be victorious."
In the summer of 2017, Jarrar was arrested again and released in September 2021, before being re-arrested in December 2023 at her home in Ramallah.
She was placed under administrative detention, which was extended multiple times. In August, she was moved to solitary confinement "as a form of punishment", according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club.
Alratrot said this time in jail has been the hardest for Jarrar, as Israeli authorities have prevented her from receiving any visitors. Despite this, she believes her sister will continue her fight.
"Khalida is strong and has great determination, and nothing shakes her," Alratrot told MEE. "Even after the loss of her daughter, she returned to struggle and defend the Palestinian cause."
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.