(July 31, 2025)

This morning the final two Handala volunteers held in Givon Prison–Christian Smalls from the United States and Hatem Aouini from Tunisia–were freed via Jordan’s King Hussein/Allenby Bridge after five days of unlawful imprisonment in occupied Palestine. Both had been on hunger strike to protest mistreatment. Aouini was received by the Tunisian embassy at the border. Despite repeated requests for assistance, neither the U.S. Consulate nor U.S. Embassy officials met Christian at the border, even after being notified in advance of his arrival details.

With their release, all 21 volunteers abducted from the Handala in international waters have now been released from Israeli captivity.