Abbas calls for release of all Palestinians held by Israel

By Awad al-Rujoub

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for the release of all Palestinian detainees from Israeli jails.

"We must continue our demand for addressing the Palestinian refugee issue and the release of all the brave detainees," Abbas said at an inauguration ceremony for two charitable projects in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

According to Palestinian figures, there are nearly 4,550 Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails, including 175 minors and 27 female detainees, along with 670 detainees held under the Israeli administrative detention without charge or trial.

On Saturday, Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails threatened to stage an open-ended hunger strike to protest Israeli abuses.

For years, Palestinians jailed by Israel have used hunger strike to demand better living conditions and an end to indefinite detentions.

Abbas vowed that the Palestinians will not leave their occupied territories.

“We will not leave out country whatsoever the conditions are," he said.

In 1993, the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel signed the Oslo agreement, which gave Palestinians a form of civil rule, but negotiations failed to complete the agreement and lead to a Palestinian state.

Peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis collapsed in April 2014 as Tel Aviv refused to stop settlement building and release Palestinian detainees imprisoned before 1993.

Writing by Ahmed Asmar