GAZANS RALLY FOR RELEASE OF DETAINED RELATIVES IN ISRAEL

Protesters raised photos of their detained relatives (worldbulletin)

Gaza, 8 Rabi’ul Awwal 1436/30 Desember 2014 (MINA) –Dozens of Palestinians demonstrated in the Gaza Strip on Monday to call for the release of their detained relatives from Israeli jails.

Protesters raised photos of their detained relatives and chanted slogans calling for rights groups to secure the release of their relatives from Israeli prisons.

“I urge the Red Cross and civil society organizations to work on releasing Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons,” Misaa Quddas, the mother of Palestinian prisoner Wisam Quddas, told The Anadolu Agency outside the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza City.

“The Arab and international communities must place the plight of Palestinian prisoners on the list of their priorities,” Qaddas said. Worldbulletin quoted by Mi’rj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

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Nagaa al-Agha, the mother of prisoners Mohamed and Diaa al-Agha, echoed a similar call.

“The UN and human rights organizations must pile pressures on Israel to release my imprisoned sons from Israeli jails,” she said.

On Sunday, Israeli authorities cancelled out family visits – scheduled for Monday morning – to Palestinian prisoners at the southern Nafha jail.

The authorities notified the ICRC, which coordinates the visits of the relatives of the Palestinian prisoners, that the relatives of the prisoners would not be able to visit them on Monday, an ICRC spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that Israeli authorities had failed to mention the reason for cancelling out the family visits to the prisoners.

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Israel’s Channel 10, meanwhile, reported that the Israeli army had decided not to allow the families of the prisoners to cross into Israel from the Gaza Strip through Erez Crossing – between the Gaza Strip and Israel – following demonstrations on Sunday by scores of Palestinians in the vicinity of the crossing.

Over 7,000 Palestinians are currently languishing in prisons located throughout Israel, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs. (T/ R03/R04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)