ROME, ITALY – An Italian-Palestinian student detained without charges by Israel since August was due to be released, his lawyer in Rome said on Sunday.
Khaled El Qaisi, 27, was arrested on August 31 while crossing from the West Bank to Jordan after a family vacation in his home city of Bethlehem.
Family members in Rome appealed last month for intervention from Italy to help the university student, who was born in Palestine but is also an Italian citizen.
His Italian lawyer, Flavio Rossi Albertini, confirmed to AFP on Sunday that El Qaisi was due to be released but “we don’t have any official information,” he said.
El Qaisi’s wife, Francesca Antinucci, told Il Manifesto daily that Italy’s consul in Israel had confirmed to her the pending release.
El Qaisi will be subject to bail and prohibited from leaving Israel for seven days, she said.
Family members had worried that El Qaisi, whom they said had been subject to daily interrogations while incarcerated, would be placed under administrative detention, which would have allowed Israel to hold him for renewable periods of six months without bringing formal charges.
Administrative detention is primarily used against Palestinians, with Israeli authorities coming under criticism from human rights groups for abusing the measure.