Palestinians rally in support of detainees in Israel

By Nour Abu Aisha

GAZA CITY (AA) - Dozens of Palestinians staged a protest on Monday in front of headquarters of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza City to show support for Palestinian prisoners languishing in Israeli jails.

Holding pictures of their sons, the families of prisoners were raising banners demanding international human rights' organizations action for their release from Israeli prisons.

"We came today to affirm our solidarity with our children in Israeli prisons and to demand their life conditions be improved," said Ferial al-Zaanin, the mother of the prisoner Hossam.

"Hossam was injured and still ill, he suffers from poor health conditions, and the health care inside the [Israeli] prisons is almost non-existed,” Al-Zaanin told Anadolu Agency.

The prisoner’s mother went on to lament “we call on the specialized authorities to intervene immediately and to stand by the side of our prisoners."

International human rights organizations called, in different occasions, on Israel to "improve the schedule of visits of Palestinian detainees and allow full family members to visit their relatives in prisons."

According to official Palestinian statistics, Israel is currently holding roughly 6,500 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom hail from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.