Maher Abdul Latif Yunis, a Palestinian who spent 40 years in Israeli prison, has died at the age of 68. He passed away early in the morning, according to reports. Yunis was arrested by Israeli authorities in 1983 for participating in armed resistance against Israeli occupation and for his involvement with the Fatah movement. His funeral is scheduled to take place in his hometown, Ara, after the noon prayer.

Initially sentenced to death, Yunis’s punishment was later commuted to life imprisonment, and in 2012 it was reduced to a 40-year term. He was released on January 19, 2023, after completing his sentence. Yunis was considered one of the most prominent figures in the Palestinian prisoner movement. During his imprisonment, he lost his father in 2008, who himself had previously spent eight years in Israeli detention.

Born on January 6, 1958, in Ara village, Yunis completed his primary and secondary education there before studying at an industrial school in Hadera.