Factions in Gaza demand end to Israel's abuse of detainees

The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs‎ in the Gaza Strip, Thursday, called on international institutions to act against Israeli violations of the rights of Palestinian detainees.

The Commission – affiliated to the Palestinian National and Islamic Forces – made its demands in front of the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sub-delegation in Gaza City after a meeting with the ICRC head, Gilan Devorn, in which the conditions of detainees on hunger strike were discussed.

Ibrahim Mansour, a member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, stated:

We have made it clear to the head of the Commission that we will take serious actions against any international institution that practices a suspicious silence on the policies of the Israeli Prison Service against the Palestinian prisoners.

He added that Israel is committing violations against detainees’ rights, including:

medical negligence, ill-treatment of prisoners’ families, administrative detention (without charge), and denying the captives their right to receive clothes.

Mansour indicated that the Commission would not “accept again the silence of the international institutions, which play the role of the biased accomplice with the occupation authorities.”

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On Tuesday, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs‎ announced that the number of detainees on hunger strike against the policy of administrative detention rose to 11.

The Commission’s statement also explained that: “Hunger-Striking prisoners suffer health complications, show signs of fatigue, weakness and movement difficulties, in addition to paleness, dizziness and headaches as well as joints’ pain.”

According to official statistics, there are 5,700 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, including 45 women, 230 children, and 500 administrative detainees; in addition to 1,800 captives who suffer from illnesses, including 700 who need permanent treatment and medical follow-up.