PA to refer the file of sick prisoners held by Israel to the UN, ICC

Palestinian Authority (PA), PLO and Fatah President Mahmoud Abbas is to refer the file of sick Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails to the ICC, Al Watan Voice reported yesterday.

Speaking to a local radio station, the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority’s Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission, Qadri Abu Baker, said Abbas has urgently asked for a file including the names of sick prisoners in order to refer them to the UN and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

This comes following the ICC’s recent decision to launch a full investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian Territories, Abu Baker explained.

READ: Palestinian minor prisoners in Israel jails tortured, humiliated, NGO reveals

Wafa reported “the crimes to be referred to ICC include the deliberate medical negligence practiced by Israeli authorities against Palestinian prisoners, as well as the Israeli government’s withholding of millions of dollars since February in tax revenue payable to the Palestinian Authority,” in reference to the tax revenues which Israeli has stopped transferring to the PA.

The commission, Abu Baker explained, is still working with the Israeli Supreme Court to look into a request to release the oldest Palestinian prisoner held in the occupation’s jails, Fuad Al-Shobaki, as a result of his medical condition.