Red Cross: Family visits in prison were suspended for Jewish holidays

[ 21/03/2011 - 11:33 AM ]

JENIN, (PIC)-- The Red Cross said the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) cancelled prison visits scheduled for Monday due to Jewish holidays and the cordon imposed on the West Bank. The Red Cross added that Palestinian families were scheduled to visit their sons and relatives in Nafha, Ramon and Megiddo prisons on Monday. The IOA does not make up for the lost visits, the Red Cross said. In a separate incident, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Sunday evening set up a checkpoint on the road lining the West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus and begun checking identities and searching vehicles without any reported arrests. Security has been tightened on checkpoints between Jenin and Ramallah for the last two weeks which restricted the movement of Palestinian citizens. Separately, the Israeli prison authority blocked a lawyer from visiting isolated prisoner Abbas Al-Sayyid on Sunday in a bid to break his two-week hunger strike, Ahrar center for prisoners’ studies and human rights reported. The prison also placed restrictions on doctor visits and confiscated the prisoner's electric equipment, director of the center Fouad Al-Khafsh said. Sayyid was sentenced to additional six months in solitary confinement after he refused to break his hunger strike.