June 25 comes as a reminder of one of the milestones in which the Palestinian people triumphed over the Israeli occupation by capturing Israeli occupation soldier Gilad Shalit from a tank at the Karam Abu Salem military post in the southern Gaza Strip and holding him captive for five years. 

This historic accomplishment that was culminated with the signing of the Wafaa al-Ahrar prisoner swap deal, by which 1,027 Palestinian detainees were released from Israeli occupation prisons.

On the 16th anniversary of this milestone, we salute the Palestinian martyrs who carried out and planned this operation and hail the Palestinian people at home and in diaspora for remaining steadfast and holding on to their rights and the Palestinian detainees for defying their jailers. 

On this occasion, we state the following: 

Frist, the Palestinian resistance that succeeded in hammering out a prisoner exchange deal in 2011 is capable of reaching another agreement and foiling attempts by the Israeli occupation to wipe out the Arab and Islamic identity of the Palestinian holy sites and homeland. 

Second, we will not rest until all Palestinian detainees are released from Israeli occupation jails in a new prisoner exchange agreement. The Israeli occupation soldiers held captive by the Palestinian resistance will not be released until Palestinian detainees regain their freedom. 

Third, we warn the Israeli occupation against continuing its violations against the Palestinian detainees. We stress that such abuses will never break their willpower. We call for activities to be held in solidarity with the Palestinian detainees at the political, media, rights, and humanitarian levels.