Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said that the third longest-serving Palestinian political prisoner in Israeli jails completed 36 years behind bars.

Muhammad Altus, 65, began his 37th year in Israeli jails. He is one of the 26 prisoners arrested by Israel for resisting its occupation since before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, including 12 prisoners from the Palestinian community in Israel.

Altus was arrested in 1985. He was shot and critically injured during his arrest and sentenced to life in prison.

Atlus’ wife died in 2015 after being in a coma for one year. He has three children, who were three years old and younger at the time of his arrest. Atlus has 10 grandchildren today whom he has never met because Israel only allows visits to first-degree relatives.

The 26 prisoners should have been released in 2014 as part of a US-sponsored plan to revive the then stalled peace process between the Palestinians and Israel. However, Israel reneged on the agreement when it came to releasing this group of prisoners and after releasing three other batches of prisoners leading to a total halt to the peace negotiations.