A member of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation’s Executive Committee, Saeb Erekat , has confirmed that the file submitted to the International Criminal Court includes the crimes of the occupation since 1967. In the intervening years, Israel has arrested 850,000 Palestinian citizens and a further 209 prisoners were killed in its detention camps.
In his remarks on Monday to local radio station Mawteni, Erekat said that: “We highlighted the medical negligence and torture carried about by the occupation’s authorities against the prisoners.”
Commenting on the organised campaign waged by Israeli media to defame Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership, Erekat said: “President Mahmoud Abbas takes the Palestinian issue to all international forums, and this displeases Israel, which does not want that the Palestinian people’s leadership to speak in front of the world and disclose its crimes.”
He described Israeli media as “destructive” and said that its “cheap methods” will not affect the consciousness of the Palestinian people.