'Trial of Jordanian engineer detained in Israel to resume May 25'

AMMAN — The Israeli Salem Military Court has adjourned the trial of Jordanian engineer Thaer Hwaiti to May 25, an activist on prisoner issues said on Thursday.

Israeli forces arrested the 25-year-old at the King Hussein Bridge on December 24, while he was on his way to visit relatives in the West Bank.

"Hwaiti faces some charges related to 'student activities', but Israeli authorities did not explain their nature," Shireen Nafe, a member of the media team supporting Jordanian prisoners in Israel, Fedaa, told The Jordan Times.

Nafe said Hwaiti, who is being held at Magedo Prison, has been working for a Jordanian technology company since he graduated from Balqa Applied University’s Polytechnic Engineering College in 2015.

Anas Abu Khdeir, JEA media coordinator, told The Jordan Times in a recent interview that the detainee holds a Jordanian identification number and is one of 25 Jordanians detained in Israel, including three other engineers: Abdullah Barghouthi, Abdullah Zeitawi and Manaf Jbara.

Akram Abu Zahrah is the most recently freed Jordanian prisoner in Israel. He was released on February 4 after serving a 14-year prison term, while Hwaiti is the latest Jordanian to be imprisoned in Israel.

Six of the prisoners are facing life sentences, including Barghouthi (67 life sentences), Marae Abu Saeedeh (11 life sentences), Munir Marae (five life sentences) and Hisham Kaabi (four life sentences), in addition to Mohammad Rimawi and Hani Khamaiseh, each of whom is facing a life sentence.