Gazans protest Israel’s administrative detention policy

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Palestinians in the Gaza Strip held protest demonstrations on Sunday against the administrative detention policy of Israel.

The protest was organized on Sunday by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in front of the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City. Protesters called for an end to the unfair policy of ‘administrative detention’ that has victimized at least 700 Palestinians languishing in Israeli jails without charge.

Awad Sultan, a member of the Central Committee of the Front, announced that “45 prisoners of the Front are protesting the administrative detention policy through a hunger strike which is also a move to support Raed Rayan and Khalil Awawda who have been on a hunger strike for more than 100 days.”

“The two prisoners’ lives are at imminent risk, and urgent action must be taken,” Sultan added.

He also demanded a “national response to this policy of repression and abuse” pointing out that “more prisoners will join the strike during the coming period.”

According to Palestinian human rights organizations, Israel holds about 4,700 Palestinian prisoners inside its jails, including 700 administrative detainees.

According to the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, “Administrative detention is incarceration without trial or charge, alleging that a person plans to commit a future offense. It has no time limit, and the evidence on which it is based is not disclosed. Israel employs this measure extensively and routinely, and has used it to hold thousands of Palestinians for lengthy periods of time. While detention orders are formally reviewed, this is merely a semblance of judicial oversight, as detainees cannot reasonably mount a defense against undisclosed allegations. Nevertheless, courts uphold the vast majority of orders.”