Gaza Families Visit Imprisoned Relatives in Israel

Gaza City, 25 Rajab 1437/03 May 2016 (MINA) – Israeli authorities on Monday allowed a group of families from the Gaza Strip to visit their jailed relatives held in Ramon Prison in southern Israel.

A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told Ma’an that 78 Palestinians — including 31 children — entered Israel through the Erez crossing early Monday morning, to visit 41 first-degree relatives held in Ramon.

Family visits for prisoners from the Gaza Strip were suspended by Israeli authorities amid heightened border security over the last two weeks, due to the Jewish holiday of Passover.

The ICRC “Family Visits Program” for Gazans was initially suspended by Israel in June 2007 when Hamas came to power in the besieged coastal enclave.

All communication between Gazan prisoners and the outside world was effectively cut off, prisoners’ rights group Addameer reported.

A key demand of a Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike in April 2012 was that the program be reinstated.

Israel agreed to resume the visits upon the conclusion of the hunger strike, although Addameer has reported that many Gaza prisoners have not been allowed to receive visitors.

There are currently 343 Gazan prisoners being held among the 7,000 total Palestinians in Israeli prisons, according to Addameer. T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)