Palestinian FM Calls on UNSC, UNHRC to Pressure Israel to Release Gaza Former Aid Worker

Ramallah, MINA – The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates today called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to pressure the Israeli occupation government to release Gaza former aid worker, Mohammed al-Halabi, who has been detained for more than five years without a verdict or a fair trial.

The ministry in a statement denounced this heinous crime committed against al-Halabi, which it stressed is an integral part of the occupation’s tyrannical aggression against the Palestinian people and their rights, WAFA reported.

Halabi, the former Gaza director of the World Vision charity who has been subjected to the longest trial in the history of Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons, is scheduled for a court hearing tomorrow, making it the 167th court hearing he will be subject to since his arrest in 2016.

Halabi, a 43-year-old father of five from Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip has obtained a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering. He was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate from an academic institution in Germany for his humanitarian work.

He was arrested while traveling through the Beit Hanoun crossing in the northern Gaza Strip on June 15, 2016. He is currently being held in Israel’s Rimon prison in very difficult living conditions.

Al-Halabi was subjected to brutal investigation and physical abuse for over 50 days by Israeli investigators and Special Forces.

His health has deteriorated significantly since his arrest.(T/R3/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)