The Palestinian Authority (PA) says the ratification of its applications to join the Geneva Conventions makes the Israeli regime liable for “war crimes” over keeping Palestinian inmates behind bars.
According to a report by Israel’s Jerusalem Post, Wasel Abu Yusef, a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, called for “pressure” on Tel Aviv over its failure to release Palestinian prisoners after the Palestinian Authority signed the four Geneva Conventions earlier this month.
The Palestinian official further said following the ratifications, there is a “legal, humanitarian and moral duty to exert real pressure to stop aggression against the prisoners and to stop Israel from committing more war crimes.”
“According to international law, these prisoners are fighting for the freedom of their people,” added Abu Yusef.
The Israeli-PA talks reached a new deadlock when the Tel Aviv regime refused to free the last tranche of 104 Palestinian prisoners in late March according to a deal for the resumption of US-sponsored negotiations.
The move prompted acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas to respond by signing letters of accession to 15 international conventions on April 1. Thirteen of the letters were deposited at the UN, one in Geneva and one in the Netherlands.
On April 11, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon accepted the PA’s request to join 13 international conventions.
In a report released on April 16, the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs said 5,000 Palestinian inmates remain in Israeli prisons.
On April 17, more than 3,000 Palestinians marked the Prisoners Day, rallying in streets of the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip to express solidarity with Palestinian inmates held in Israeli jails.
MKA/HMV
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