On the eve of Palestinian Prisoners Day, the Cairo-based Arab States’ Parliaments Forum, on Thursday, called for the immediate release of all Palestinian prisoners from various Israeli prisons and detention centers, as well as halt of all Israeli violations against the Palestinian people.
In a statement, issued by the forum on the eve of Palestinian Prisoners Day, head of the forum, Mr. Mash’al Alselmy, demanded all relevant international bodies, including the United Nations, right groups and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to take the lead by ensuring full protection for Palestinian prisoners, under the spread of Coronavirus pandemic, worldwide, Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territories.
He asserted that the suffering of Palestinian people, especially those women, children, patients and elderly, inside Israeli prisons, should dictate all concerned bodies to pressure Israeli government to respect the international law, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons, in Time of War, which he believes could be applied on current times, as Coronavirus is reported to have spread widely including Palestinian prisoners themselves.
Alselmy held the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the lives of Palestinian prisoners, after some of them have tested positive for the Coronavirus. He believed that Israeli authorities have intentionally ignored the fact of such an infection.
Currently, there are about 5,000 Palestinian prisoners, inside Israeli more than 20 Israeli detention facilities and prisons, across the occupied West Bank and Israel. Recently, some media reports have suggested that few of those prisoners have tested positive for the deadly Coronavirus.
Noteworthy, several hundreds of those prisoners are patients with chronic diseases, while hundreds others are women and children, under the age of 18.
