Watan-Activists on social media have launched the hashtag “Hamas Detainees in Saudi Arabia,” urging pressure on Saudi authorities to reveal the fate of approximately 60 Palestinians detained in Riyadh on charges of “supporting the Islamic resistance movement, Hamas.” The campaign aims to secure their release.
The campaigners highlighted the degrading conditions faced by these detainees, citing reports from human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, which documented numerous and serious violations of their rights in legal procedures. These violations include enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and solitary confinement.
In September 2019, Saudi Arabia conducted a series of arrests affecting around 70 residents and visitors of Palestinian origin. Among them was Hamas representative in the Kingdom, 85-year-old Mohammed al-Khudari, who was suffering from cancer. He was later released, along with his son, but other Jordanian and Palestinian detainees were also released, leaving approximately 60 Palestinians still in the Kingdom’s prisons.
هاشتاق #معتقلي_حماس_بالسعوديه اطلقه ناشطون يمنيون لمطالبة السعودية بالإفراج عن 60 فلسطينيا معتقلون في سجونها منذ ابريل 2019، بسبب دعمهم للمقاومة الفلسطينية وتأييدهم لحمااس.
سبق وأن طالبت حمااس مرات عديدة بالافراج عنهم، وذكرت منظمة العفو أنهم يمرون بظروف اعتقال مهينة. pic.twitter.com/padM0lKXX0— هاشتاق اليمن (@yementag2020) November 22, 2023
Calls for the release of Hamas detainees in Saudi Arabia
In August 2021, the Saudi criminal court sentenced Al-Khudari to 15 years in prison as part of judgments that affected 69 Jordanians and Palestinians. The sentences varied between acquittals and imprisonment for up to 22 years. Later, the court reduced Al-Khudari’s prison sentence to 3 years before he and his son were released.
صدق او لا تصدق
ملفات ومحاضر التحقيقات
كلها جمعت وتم تسليم الموساد نسخة منها
الى اين وصلت الشقيقة #معتقلي_حماس_بالسعوديه— أنيس منصور (@anesmansory) November 22, 2023
Yemeni journalist Anis Mansour recalled previous statements by Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of Hamas (before the release of Al-Khudari), in which Haniyeh mentioned that there were more than 60 detainees still in Saudi prisons on charges of supporting the resistance. Mansour described these charges as ones that the Arab mind cannot comprehend.
Mansour mentioned that investigation files and records were collected and handed over to the Mossad, with him expressing dismay, “Where has the sister reached?!”
In the context of his participation in the hashtag “Hamas Detainees in Saudi Arabia,” the Yemeni journalist added that “the media campaigns and instigation adopted by Saudi media outlets or those affiliated with them against Hamas and the forces of resistance have yielded opposite results.
الحملات الإعلامية والتحريضية التي تبنتها وسائل إعلامية سعودية أو محسوبة عليها ضد حماس وقوى المقاومة أتت بنتائج عكسية، بل وأسهمت في الإساءة إلى صورة المنظومة السياسية السعودية في عيون الشعوب العربية والإسلامية#معتقلي_حماس_بالسعوديه
#كلنا_ضد_الصهيوني
#تميم_راعي_السلام pic.twitter.com/7hwu6jOQ7m— أنيس منصور (@anesmansory) November 22, 2023
Dangerous steps that marred the image of the Kingdom. He added that these campaigns “contributed to tarnishing the image of the Saudi political system in the eyes of Arab and Islamic peoples.”
He also recalled the words of Khaled Meshaal at that time: “It is not right for a state to come and hold me accountable because, by God, I adhere to Palestine or because I engage in resistance. They are mistaken in what they are doing. If they consider the presence of more than 60 detainees a burden, let them release them, and I ask them to leave the Kingdom, but don’t arrest them.”
خالد مشعل
لا يصح أن تأتي دولة وتحاسبني لأنني والله متمسك بفلسطين أو أنني أمارس المقاومة، هم مخطئون فيما يفعلون، أكثر من 60 معتقل لديهم
يا اخي إذا اعتبرت وجودهم عبئا ً أخرجهم وأطلب منهم مغادرة المملكة لكن لا تعتقلهم#معتقلي_حماس_بالسعوديه— أنيس منصور (@anesmansory) November 22, 2023
Journalist Tawfiq Ahmed posted a picture of a “Palestinian passport held captive” with the Saudi flag in the background, symbolizing the Palestinian detainees in the prisons of the Kingdom.
اتهمت السلطات السعودية من قبل الكثير من معتقلي الرأي و من الرافضين للتطبيع مع الكيان الصــ.ـهيوني؛ بتهمة الإرهاب وبتهمة الدعم للجماعات الإرهابية، ولا يزال معظمهم رهن الاحتجاز التعسفي، ولعل المعتقلين الفلسطينيين مثالا حيا على ذلكT//#معتقلي_حماس_بالسعوديه pic.twitter.com/dz4814KzOV
— Tawfieq Ahmed توفيق أحمد (@SSSSRR101) November 22, 2023
Ahmed wrote in a tweet on the platform: “Saudi authorities have accused many opinion detainees and those opposed to normalization with the Zionist entity of terrorism and supporting terrorist groups. Most of them are still under arbitrary detention, and the Palestinian detainees are a vivid example of this.”
60 معتقل فلسطيني في سجون #السعودية بحجة انتمائهم لحركة حماس ، ويأتوا يقولوا ليش حماس تتعامل مع إيران ، انتوا من جعلتموهم ينفرون منكم بسبب سياستكم الخاطئة !!#معتقلي_حماس_بالسعوديه pic.twitter.com/bBNynEO3Ts
— صالح منصر اليافعي (@saleh_binali) November 22, 2023
Saleh Mansur Al-Yafi also wrote: “60 Palestinian detainees in Saudi prisons on the pretext of their affiliation with the Hamas movement. Then they come and ask, ‘Why does Hamas deal with Iran?’ You are the ones who made them turn away from you because of your wrong policies!”
حماس حركة جهادية فلسطينية ليس لها أي نشاط خارج فلسطين يبحثون عن من يمد لهم يد العون في مواجهة الاحتلال الصهيوني ، وبدل ما يقفون إلى جانبهم ويدعموهم ذهبوا للتنكيل بهم ومحاربتهم سياسياً وإعلامياً ويقفون إلى جانب العدو الصهيوني !!#معتقلي_حماس_بالسعوديه pic.twitter.com/76ayRjLJFm
— صالح منصر اليافعي (@saleh_binali) November 22, 2023
حماس حركة جهادية فلسطينية ليس لها أي نشاط خارج فلسطين يبحثون عن من يمد لهم يد العون في مواجهة الاحتلال الصهيوني ، وبدل ما يقفون إلى جانبهم ويدعموهم ذهبوا للتنكيل بهم ومحاربتهم سياسياً وإعلامياً ويقفون إلى جانب العدو الصهيوني !!#معتقلي_حماس_بالسعوديه pic.twitter.com/76ayRjLJFm
— صالح منصر اليافعي (@saleh_binali) November 22, 2023
In another tweet, Al-Yafi clarified that Hamas is “a Palestinian jihadist movement with no activities outside of Palestine. They seek assistance in confronting the Zionist occupation. Instead of standing by them and supporting them, they chose to torment and politically and media-wise fight them, standing by the Zionist enemy!”
Blogger Balqis also participated in the hashtag, confirming that “the Palestinian detainees in Saudi Arabia include students, residents, academics, and businessmen. Their accounts have been frozen, and they have been prevented from traveling. Since their detention, they have been subjected, according to Hamas at that time, to various forms of torture, and they are being interrogated harshly.”
المعتقلون الفلسطينيون بالسعودية، بينهم طلبة ومقيمون وأكاديميون ورجال أعمال، تم تجميد حساباتهم ومنعهم من السفر، وهم يتعرضون منذ اعتقالهم، وفق ما قالته حركة حماس آنذاك، للتعذيب بأشكال متعددة، ويتم التحقيق معهم بشكلٍ قاسٍ.#معتقلي_حماس_بالسعوديه pic.twitter.com/zlKimrcU0y
— بْـلـْقِـيـِسْ★ (@Balqee1s) November 22, 2023
It is worth noting that Saudi Arabia has not responded to all pleas and mediations, despite the deteriorating health conditions of many detainees. Their families are prohibited from speaking to the media, and those few who have been released are reluctant to speak out.