English Wall

Concern has been voiced yesterday evening by Katharina Ritz, head of the Red Cross Committee in Jerusalem (Icrc), about Israel suspending relatives’ visits to the Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. For the families of Gaza who have relatives in prison, state Irin, the UN office for coordination of humanitarian aids, the last 11 months have been particularly difficult because they could not visit them but just write them short messages. “It’s important for the families to be in touch with their convicted relatives, and psychologically it is equally important that the convicts see their relatives”, states Ritz, who also said the families bring books and clothes to the prisoners. According to estimates from the Israeli Human Rights group B’tselem, prisoners in Gaza are 760, including 4 women, in Israeli prisons, all charged with crimes against security. The visit plan had been in operation since 1968, but it was suspended just before Hamas took over the Strip. The Israeli Defence Ministry states that “the government decided not to let anyone out of Gaza, except for humanitarian cases. Since his arrest in 2006 Gilad Shalit, a soldier, has never had any contact with his relatives”.
News by SIR