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Palestine protesters close Red Cross office in West Bank

September 5, 2019 at 12:30 pm

Palestinians protest outside the Red Cross office in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails in the West Bank on 11 July 2017 [Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency]

Scores of Palestinian activists yesterday protested in front of the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Al-Bireh, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, Wafa news agency reported.

The protesters, who included prisoners’ families, closed down the ICRC’s office in protest against the organisation’s “inaction” regarding the cruel conditions endured by Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails.

According to the protesters, the Palestinian prisoners are subjected to ill-treatment, deliberate medical negligence and physical and verbal abuse.

They shouted slogans demanding immediate intervention to save hunger-striking prisoners, particularly Bassam Al-Sayeh and Sami Abu-Dayyak, who are on the verge of death.

READ: Prisoners face ‘inhumane treatment’ in Israel

Rola Abu-Daho, a former prisoner, called on ICRC to assume its responsibilities and follow up on their conditions given the deliberate medical negligence, which is commonly used by the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) against Palestinian prisoners.

This protest came just one day after more than 200 Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s Rimon Prison started their open-ended hunger strike protesting cancerous jamming devices placed near them.

According to the PLO’s Prisoners and Freed Prisoners Committee, there are over 6,000 Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails, including around 400 being held under administrative detention and more than 1,800 in need of medical care.

READ: Being a Palestinian prisoner in Israel