The following is a slightly edited article that first appeared in Al Mayadeen English on Jan. 20, 2025.
After Gaza’s triumph over genocide, Khalida Jarrar was liberated, honoring the resistance’s promise to its prisoners. But who is Khalida Jarrar?
Khalida Jarrar welcomed, following her release from an Israeli prison, June 3, 2016
After enduring years of struggle and detention in Israeli prisons, Khalida Jarrar, hailed as “Political Prisoner No. 1” by Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, is finally liberated. Her liberation came as part of the first prisoner exchange between the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian Resistance following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, which symbolized a historic triumph against the atrocities in Gaza.
Palestinian leader Khalida Jarrar was born on Feb. 9, 1963, in the city of Nablus. She is married to Ghassan Jarrar, a businessman who has endured years of administrative detention, investigation, and deportation.
Jarrar has two daughters, Yafa and Suha. Tragically, Suha passed away in July 2021, while her mother was still in detention, and the occupation prevented her from saying a final farewell to her daughter.
The Palestinian leader holds a master’s degree in political science from Birzeit University in Palestine. She also served as a member of the Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a deputy in the Palestinian Legislative Council and was the official responsible for the detainees’ file in the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Jarrar served as a member of the Supreme National Committee responsible for overseeing Palestine’s accession to the International Criminal Court. She also worked as the director of the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association from 1994 to 2006 and later served as vice-chairperson of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
House arrest, detention, and isolation … followed by freedom after Gaza’s triumph over genocide
All charges brought against Khalida Jarrar by the Israeli occupation are linked to her political activities and affiliation with the PFLP movement. The occupation used her participation in events supporting detainees and visits to liberated detainees as additional grounds for her arrest.
The occupation began its persecution of the Palestinian leader in 1998 when it carried out a house arrest order, effectively barring her from leaving the occupied Palestinian territories.
On April 2, 2015, occupation forces detained her from her home in Ramallah [on the West Bank]. They surrounded the house with military vehicles, stormed the premises, searched it thoroughly and seized her belongings before transferring her from one Israeli military detention center to the other for interrogation.
During the investigations, Jarrar refused to cooperate with the occupation’s intelligence, asserting her right to remain silent and refusing to eat or drink. As a result, she was transferred to Hasharon Prison for women.
After Jarrar’s trial was postponed for several sessions over several months, the military court in Ofer Prison in “Israel” issued a 15-month sentence in prison in December 2015. The occupation then released her on June 3, 2016.
During her detainment, Jarrar suffered a brain infarction due to reduced blood supply caused by blood vessel clotting and high cholesterol, necessitating multiple hospital transfers.
In the summer of 2017, Israeli occupation forces arrested Jarrar once again, and her detention was extended in 2018 before she was eventually released in February of the following year.
Her time outside prison was brief. In late October 2019, she was arrested once again. This detention was followed by a year and four months of investigations and court sessions, culminating in the verdict announced on March 1, 2021. After she was liberated later that year, Jarrar visited her daughter Suha’s grave in September.
After Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, specifically on Dec. 26, 2023, the occupation detained her again and placed her with other female prisoners in Damon Prison.
She was later transferred to solitary confinement at Neve Tizia prison, where she endured intense isolation, and the occupation refused to disclose the exact duration. During these harsh conditions, she faced the constant threat of death, subjected to extreme heat without proper ventilation.
Before and after views.
Earlier in November, the Hanzala Center for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners reported on Jarrar’s condition, describing her ongoing imprisonment as part of a broader campaign of repression and abuse, and marking her treatment as a clear example of “Israel’s slow death” policy against Palestinian political prisoners.
The center also condemned the harsh conditions she faced, revealing that the female Palestinian activist was confined in an overcrowded, poorly ventilated cell, deprived of basic necessities such as water and light. The facility, as per the center, was described as resembling a “grave” where Jarrar is forced to lie next to the door in order to access the limited oxygen available.
Two days after the ceasefire was announced in Gaza on Jan. 17, 2025, Israeli media announced that Khalida Jarrar was released among the detainees as part of the prisoner-captive exchange deal.
During the early hours of the 20th of this month, Khalida Jarrar was reunited with her people outside the occupation prisons, reclaiming her freedom. This followed Gaza’s triumph over genocide on its own terms, fulfilling its promise to both male and female detainees that their freedom would come.
Questions and comments may be sent to [email protected]. A video of Jarrar’s release can be found at: youtube.com/shorts/b5enLgPZktA