GAZA (PIC)– The minister of prisoners and justice in the Palestinian government in Gaza Strip Dr. Mohammed Faraj Al-Ghoul has called on captors of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit not to ease their conditions for swapping him with Palestinian captives.
Ghoul’s remarks came in a rally organized by his ministry in Gaza city Sunday to commemorate the Palestinian Prisoner Day (PPD) underlining that the Palestinian captives have suffered a lot for the sake of Palestine and that they should be given the attention they deserve from all Palestinian parties.
“The ministry is closely following up the issue of the prisoners despite the circumstances surrounding it and it strives hard to alleviate the suffering of the prisoners and their families” Ghoul pointed out as he addressed the rally adding that Palestine was the only state that has a ministry for prisoners as there are nearly 12000 Palestinian captives in Israeli jails.
For his part Palestinian MP Mohammed Shihab who is also a prominent political leader of Hamas Movement condemned the Israeli cruel practices against the Palestinian detainees explaining that the “harmful” political division in the Palestinian arena has sent the wrong message to the Israeli occupation prompting it to launch a barbaric campaign against the captives.
He also underscored that Palestinian political detainees (mostly from Hamas) in the PA jails in the West Bank must be immediately and unconditionally released so as to help restore the Palestinian national unity.
“We should extend all possible help to those prisoners for the great and precious sacrifices they had made for the Palestinian issue and we should do that all the time and not only during the PPD” highlighted Shihab.
Dr. Mohammed Awad the secretary-general of the PA council of ministers seconded the remarks of his two colleagues stressing that his government puts the issue of the captives on top of its priorities.
He disclosed that the PA government of premier Ismail Haneyya has sent many letters to international parties and legal institutions including the ICRC exposing the Israeli violations of international laws against the captives.
Awad emphasized that the international community shouldn’t remain passive towards those Israeli violations and that it should swiftly move to bridle those practices.
