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March 18, 2013

Palestinian ends hunger strike in deal

By Ibrahim Barzak Associated Press

EREZ CROSSING, Gaza Strip — A freed Palestinian prisoner was given a hero’s welcome in the Gaza Strip on Sunday evening after ending his hunger strike in an Israeli jail and agreeing to a plea bargain that will confine him to the Hamas-run territory for the next 10 years.

After his release from Israeli custody, Ayman Sharawneh arrived at the Erez Crossing in an ambulance with its siren blaring and red lights flashing as dozens of TV cameramen and photographers precariously gathered around the vehicle as it crossed into Gaza. Dozens of Palestinians waved national flags and chanted slogans calling for freedom.

Sharawneh, 53, appeared weak, shaky and shrunken, and was taken to a hospital in Gaza City.

Sharawneh, a resident of the West Bank, had been refusing food since last July to protest his incarceration. His lawyer, Jawad Bulous, said Sharawneh accepted the offer of confinement to Gaza, fearing he would be sent to prison for decades in a military court hearing set for today.

“The occupation committed two crimes,” Sharawneh said, referring to Israel. “Arresting me, and then keeping me away from my family. But in Gaza, I am also with my family,” he said, his voice croaking as he spoke from his hospital bed.

Sharawneh, who was serving a 38-year prison sentence for participating in militant attacks, was among about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners freed in 2011 in exchange for an Israeli soldier held for five years by Hamas militants in Gaza.

In one attack, he detonated an explosives-filled handbag in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, wounding more than a dozen people. He was also involved in a kidnapping attempt, according to Israel’s Shin Bet security service.

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