Israel releases 57-year-old woman after 14 days of detention, "harshly interrogated"

Ma'an – Israeli authorities released a Palestinian woman with Jordanian citizenship from detention after holding her for 14 days, the Tulkarem resident said in a statement Tuesday.

Fathiyeh Swess, 57, said she was "harshly interrogated," was barred from sleep, and made to stand for long hours while she was held at the Al-Julmah detention center. She said Israeli officers threatened to detain her brothers and often verbally assaulted her.

She described the detention center as "bad and terrible," adding that the cells "were not fit for human beings and smell bad." Swess further said the food was inedible and that prison staff treated and interrogated detainees in "inhumane ways."

Head of the Ahrar Detainees Center Foad Al-Khafsh said Swess, the oldest woman in Israeli custody, was released after authorities could not charge her and failed to coerce a false confession from her.