Israeli occupation authorities are maintaining harsh restrictions for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who wish to visit relatives in Israeli jails, reported B’Tselem.
Out of more than 5,000 Palestinian prisoners, 303 are from the Gaza Strip, including some arrested before Israel’s removal of settlers in 2005.
Out of 5,000+ Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, some 300 come from the occupied Gaza Strip.
Parents, spouses & children of prisoners may visit once every 2 months.
Siblings can visit in very specific circumstances, & once every six months.https://t.co/BSAUE67cI5
— Ben White (@benabyad) May 22, 2019
In 2012, after a five-year complete ban on family visits to prisoners from Gaza, Israeli authorities have been allowing visits “but subject to draconian limitations”, described B’Tselem.
Parents, spouses, and children – under 16 – of prisoners are allowed to visit, once every two months. Siblings, meanwhile, “are permitted to visit only if their parents are deceased or gravely ill and if the prisoner is unmarried”, and even then, “visits are allowed only once every six months”.
israel jails Gaza Palestinian detainees inside Israel occupation creating onerous restrictions on family visits and violating internationalLaw requiring that they beheld within the occupied territory Many detainees,including children,face harsh conditions#PalestineSolidarityDay
— سالار عبداللہ (@Salariaat) February 14, 2019
B’Tselem said:
“Even when families are permitted to make prison visits, the journey – organized by the Red Cross – is exhausting and long, leaving home before dawn and returning late in the evening.”
The group added:
“During the visits, which last only 45-60 minutes, the prisoners are kept apart from their visitors by a glass partition and communicate with them via a prison phone line.”
Conjugal visits are not allowed for Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank and Gaza Strip held in Israeli jails.https://t.co/MBZxiRaPIz
— Electronic Intifada (@intifada) April 11, 2019
In addition to limiting the number of visitors and the frequency of visits, B’Tselem noted, “since July 2017 Israel has also banned all visits to 1,329 Hamas-affiliated, most of whom are from the West Bank and some from Gaza.”
(Middle East Monitor, PC, Social Media)
