Dozens of Palestinians call for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails

TULKAREM, (ST)_ Dozens of Palestinians have participated in a sit-in outside the Red Cross headquarters in Tulkarem in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails amid very difficult detention conditions.

 

The participants in the weekly sit-in on Tuesday called on the international committee to put pressure on the Israeli occupation authorities to release the prisoners. 

 

The Israeli occupying authorities have disregarded COVID-19 guidelines in dealing with Palestinian prisoners and detainees in the face of the pandemic. Despite a series of guidelines and calls issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and UN human rights experts on the need to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in detention settings, conditions in Israeli prisons continue to deteriorate. 

 

According to Addameer, as of February 2020, there were 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, including 430 administrative detainees and 180 child prisoners. Israeli military forces hold administrative detainees in prison indefinitely without charging them or putting them on trial. Those being detained and imprisoned include journalists, human rights defenders, and Palestinian Legislative Council members. Detainees and prisoners are forced to endure abysmal conditions. Many human rights organizations have documented torture, acts of violence, pervasive medical negligence, and severe restrictions or, in certain areas, complete bans on family visits. To protest the inhumane conditions, the prisoners have staged several hunger strikes.

 

Compiled by: Basma Qaddour