Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported o Monday that Likud member of Knesset (MK), Yariv Levin, and Kadima MK, Yoel Hasson, submitted a bill that calls for worsening the living conditions of imprisoned Hamas members.
File, Palestinian detainee - Image by Maan News Agency
They said that those who are responsible for “terrorist attacks, and for holding captive Gilad Shalit, should be denied all privileges”, Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported.
The bill calls for placing some detainees in solitary confinement for extended periods, denying visitations, issuing Administrative Detention orders against the detainees who finish their terms, and barring detained students from continuing their education.
Several members of Knesset already declared their support to the new proposal. The MK’s who expressed support to the illegal bill are of the Yisrael Beiteinu Party, Shas Party, National Union Party, the Likud, and the Jewish Home.
It also aims at increasing Israel’s bargaining power over Hamas in talks for the release of the captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, Haaretz said.
The two MK’s claimed that Palestinian detainees imprisoned by Israel “are living in better conditions than the captured soldier”.
Likud MK, Levin, who used to the vice-president of the Israeli Bar Association, claimed that the bill “would be balanced, and will be in line with the international law”.
He also claimed that the bill will not violate the Geneva Convention. He said that the Convention only applies to prisoners of war and Israeli does not recognize the Palestinian detainees as prisoners of war.
Furthermore, Haaretz reported that a ministerial committee in Israel urged on Thursday the government to revoke some right of Palestinian detainees in order to increase the pressure on Hamas.
Such a decision is a violation to the basic rights of the detainees and constitutes collective punishment. Israel claims this decision is against detained Hamas members, but on the ground all detainees are imprisoned together and face the same aggression.
All Palestinian detainees are prisoners of war as Israeli is illegally occupying the Palestinians land and fully ignores and disregards the international law which labels occupation as a war crime.
Hundreds of detainees died in Israeli prisons since 1967. Most of them died due to extreme torture, while the rest died as the Israeli Prisons Authority denied them access to adequate medical treatment.
Israeli legalizes torturing detainees to obtain confessions, and several detainees died due to torture. Approximately 10.000 Palestinians, including hundreds of women and children, are imprisoned by Israel. The number of Israelis imprisoned by the Palestinians in One.
