Palestinian child goes free with prisoner-mother

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

JABALYA, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Two-year-old Bara got his first taste of life outside prison on Monday, leaving an Israeli jail in the arms of his mother, a Hamas member who gave birth to the boy behind bars.

The child held tightly to his mother, Samar Sbaih, as they crossed into the Gaza Strip from Israel. He began to cry only when a relative tried to pry him away so Sbaih could speak to reporters.

Sbaih was two months' pregnant when she was detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on suspicion of involvement in bomb-making by the Islamist group, which opposes the current Palestinian peace efforts with Israel.

She was allowed to keep Bara with her in jail and went free after completing most of her 28-month sentence.

"My happiness will not be complete until all prisoners are released. I have lived their suffering and know how they feel," Sbaih said as she held her son and Hamas songs blared through loudspeakers at an emotional homecoming reception.

Palestinian officials said at least 11,000 Palestinian prisoners, including at least 300 women, remain in Israeli jails.

Israel has released more than 700 Palestinian prisoners in recent months in a bid to boost President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah faction lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas Islamists in fighting last June.

At the welcoming ceremony for Sbaih, senior Hamas leader Fathi Hammad praised Palestinian women whom he said shared in the fight against Israel.

"Jihad is not limited to men ... Hamas has also recruited female would-be martyrs," Hammad said, referring to women suicide bombers.

(Editing by Samia Nakhoul)