Israel released the oldest Palestinian prisoner, Major General Fouad al-Shobaki, after 17 years behind bars on Monday.
Shobaki, 83, dubbed the sheikh of prisoners, was one of the close associates of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and was considered his right-hand man and the confidant of his secrets.
The Israeli occupation accused Shobaki of being the mastermind behind an attempt to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip in 2002 on a ship, known as Karine-A, which was the reason for the isolation and siege of Arafat in Ramallah in 2002.
After his release, Shobaki went directly to Arafat's tomb in Ramallah to lay a wreath on the grave.
In 2006, Israel arrested Shobaki, claiming he financed the arms ship, which was intercepted by the Israeli army in the Red Sea at the beginning of 2002 in operation dubbed "Noah's Ark."
Israel said he funded the ship, which was equipped to arm the Palestinians during the second intifada and loaded with about 50 tons of weapons, including rockets, RPG launchers, and high-explosive materials.
Shobaki was a Major General in the Palestinian security forces, responsible for the central military and financial administration. He received orders from Arafat, who wanted to arm the security services and Fatah movement.
After taking control of the ship, Israel convinced the US administration that Arafat was a significant supporter of terrorism. Tel Aviv then received the green light to carry out Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, when it invaded the West Bank and besieged Arafat.
After four years, the occupation forces kidnapped Shobaki from a private prison in Areeha, where he was being held, according to an agreement supervised by the US and Britain.
He was arrested along with the Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ahmed Saadat, Ahed Abu Ghulamy, Hamdi Qaraan, Basil Asmar, Majdi Al-Rimawi, and Yasser Abu Turki; a group belonging to the Popular Front whom "Israel" accuses of assassinating the Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi.
The occupation military court sentenced him to 20 years in prison, which was later reduced to 17 years.
Fouad al-Shobaki was born on March 12, 1940, in Gaza, in the al-Tuffah neighborhood. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Cairo University.
He is a politician, a military general, and a member of the Fatah movement. He was one of the members of the Fatah movement who moved with Arafat to Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Tunisia, and then Gaza and Ramallah.
In 2011, Shobaki's wife died while he was in prison, and he married four of his six children, who gave birth to nine grandchildren whom he did not see.
Shobaki suffered from multiple health issues and looked tired while receiving medical care. He was transferred by an ambulance to the Tarqumia checkpoint, west of Hebron, where his family welcomed him before heading to Ramallah.
