Palestine appeals to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to protect Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons
Palestine appeals to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to protect Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons
Under the directives of H.E. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Dr. Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, Palestine’s permanent observer to the United Nations and international organizations in Switzerland, H.E. Ambassador Ibrahim Khreisheh, sent an urgent letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, urging her to immediately act to safeguard the lives of Palestinian detainees, who are subjected to torture, starvation, and ill-treatment in Israeli occupation detention cells.
In the letter, Khreisheh condemned the Israeli occupation’s policies, which have led to the deterioration of the health and humanitarian condition of Marwan Barghouti, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, who continues to serve years in solitary confinement, facing beatings, restraints, and death threats.
He stressed that these violations are part of a systematic policy targeting the Palestinian people and leadership, aimed at ethnic cleansing, and held the occupation fully responsible for the safety of detainees.
Khreisheh called for the immediate release of those most at risk, including the sick, elderly, women, children, and administrative detainees.
He also condemned the assault carried out by the so-called far-right Israeli Minister of “National Security”, Itamar Ben Gvir, who stormed Barghouti’s cell and threatened him with death, describing it as a serious crime amounting to attempted murder that requires urgent international intervention.
Khreisheh concluded the letter by stressing that the fate of Marwan Barghouti and all Palestinian detainees depends on immediate international action, calling on the ICRC and the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to fulfill their responsibilities and ensure the protection of the lives and dignity of the detainees in accordance with international humanitarian law.