PA warns of Israel’s ‘harmful’ measures against prisoners

The Palestinian Authority presidency warned on Wednesday that any harm resulting from Israel’s brutal measures against Palestinian prisoners will create an explosive situation both inside and outside the prisons, Anadolu has reported.

“Moreover,” said the presidency, “such measures contravene international humanitarian instruments and norms, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

The official statement said that the presidency holds the Israeli government fully responsible for the lives of all prisoners. “The Palestinian leadership and people stand by the prisoners in their battle to defend their dignity at a time when Israel continues to disregard international law by its intransigent crackdowns on prisoners.”

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It added that President Mahmoud Abbas was following the prisoners’ suffering closely and will keep their issue high on the agenda. It pointed out that he will use his upcoming UN General Assembly speech to call on the world to assume its responsibilities, especially because Israel is continuing its raids, colonial settlement construction and encroachment upon holy sites, as well as home demolitions and extrajudicial killings.

Palestinian prisoners announced recently the initiation of a mass hunger strike in protest against the Israeli Prisons Service’s repressive measures. Israel is currently holding around 4,550 Palestinians in its prisons.