OIC condemns Zionist entity’s repression against Palestinian prisoners

A major commission of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has denounced as an “act of collective punishment” Zionist entity’s repressive measures against the Palestinian prisoners, in the wake of a daring escape by at least six inmates from a high-security Israeli jail.

In a statement on Sunday, the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) pointed to reports that the Israel Prison Service (IPS) has sent many Palestinians into solitary confinement and restricted their access to essential services, Palestine’s Wafa news agency reported.

“These retaliatory measures are disproportionate and have no legal basis, and constitute a flagrant violation of international human rights and humanitarian law,” the IPHRC said.

It further noted that Israeli regime police routinely use excessive force against women and children during arrest operations, adding that the regime “has many obligations under the provisions of international human rights and humanitarian law, especially Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.”

Since last week, over 4,500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli regime prisons have been facing a repressive campaign following the escape of the six from the Gilbao Prison overnight.

The prisoners, five of whom belong to the Islamic Jihad, escaped the prison located in the northern part of the occupied territories through an underground tunnel. The facility has earned notoriety as the Israeli version of the Guantanamo prison.

Thousands of Palestinians held protests across the occupied West Bank in support of the six prisoners, particularly those who were recaptured.

SS