Hamas says no reconciliation before release of political detainees in the West Bank

The Islamic Resistance Movement has warned the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank about its policy of detaining and “abusing” Hamas members. Hamas holds the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas personally responsible for the lives of Hamas detainees in PA custody. The detention policy, Hamas claims, is carried out on the orders of the Israeli occupation forces and the US government.

---

The warning was made in a statement by Ismail Al-Ashqar, a Member of Parliament who heads the Committee of Interior and Security Affairs in the Palestinian Legislative Council, during a march against the PA’s continued detention of Hamas members in the West Bank. The march took place on in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north of the Gaza Strip.

Al-Ashqar said, “The strike by the hostages held in the PA’s prisons reveals the truth about the crimes, violations and brutal torture that detainees are being subjected to at the hands of the Palestinian security forces.” He added that there can be no worthwhile reconciliation with Fatah as long as the PA is holding political detainees in its prisons.