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Gazans demonstrate for the release
of their relatives [Ma'anImages] |
Gaza – Ma’an – Forty-one Palestinians seized by Israel during its invasion of the Gaza Strip have arrived at the Negev prison camp in southern Israel, a prisoners’ affairs expert reported on Friday.
Researcher Abed An-Naser Farawnah said he has learned that the Gazan detainees have been remanded to Section Nine of the desert camp, far away from the other prisoners, and are being denied contact with other inmates. The Gazans have been designated ‘illegal combatants,’ he said.
Farawnah noted that the prisoners already in the Negev Prison asked the prison authorities to meet the new arrivals. The existing prisoners were told that the Gazans are under the direct control of Shin Bet, the Israeli security service. The others in the camp are dealt with under a law dealing with “legitimate fighters.
The prison administration said the prisoners arrived in two groups. Sixteen prisoners from Gaza arrived several days ago, and 25 more arrived on Thursday and Friday morning.
Farawnah said he fears that the Gazan detainees are being dealt with “harshly,” but said that the conditions of their detention are unknown. Israel has refused to cooperate with either the Red Cross or the Palestinian Authority in this regard.
