Dozens of Palestinians participated today in a sit-in in the city of Al-Bireh in the West Bank in support of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention centers. The Palestinians demanded the release of the two hunger strikers, Khalil Awawda and Raed Rayan.
Wafa Agency stated that the participants in the sit-in organized by the Palestinian national forces in front of the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the city raised the Palestinian flag and pictures of the two prisoners, the first prisoner, Awawda has been on hunger strike for 90 days while Rayan has been on strike for the 54th day consequetive. The sitters-in called on the international community to assume its responsibilities towards the prisoners and stop the occupation’s violations against them.
Amin Shoman, head of the High Commission for the Follow-up of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs, said: The continuous sit-in in front of the Red Cross headquarters represents a cry of support for all prisoners in the occupation prisons, especially the sick and those on hunger strike, stressing the importance of continuing to support the prisoners in their battle for freedom.
Shoman pointed out that the occupation authorities recently escalated the arrest campaigns that targeted hundreds of Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank cities and towns, which calls for an international move to stop its aggressive practices.
In turn, a member of the Revolutionary Council of the Fatah Movement, Abdel Moneim Hamdan, pointed out that the continuation of the activities in support of the captives comes to emphasize the importance of subjecting the occupation to international courts for the crimes it commits against the prisoners, pointing out that the occupation officials and its forces should be behind bars while the Palestinian prisoners are defending the rights and freedom of the Palestinian people.
For his part, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Wasel Abu Yousef, called on the international community to stop the policy of double standards, calling on human rights and humanitarian organizations to work to prevent the continued impunity of the occupation authorities from accountability for their crimes, under the protection of the US and Britain.
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