GAZA (PIC)– Fawzi Barhoum Hamas spokesman in Gaza called for the immediate return of the Nativity Church deportees after five years of punishment.
He made a press statement on Thursday to mark the fifth anniversary of the deportation of a number of 26 Palestinian activists from Bethlehem to the Gaza Strip and European countries.
The Israeli occupation condition to end the 40-day-seige of the church was to deport those 26 activists. The activists and their families were told at the time that the punishment was temporary. Five years on and the deportees are not allowed to go back to their families.
Barhoum said that their continued punishment contradicts human rights principles and international laws.
He also said that there are over five million Palestinian refugees and exiles who are waiting to return to their homes and families and return is their only option.
He called on the deportees and their supporters in Gaza and Europe to intensify the campaign for their return by contacting human rights and legal organizations to take up their case.
