Detainees Media Center: “Israel is avoiding its commitments to the peace process”

Tuesday December 04, 2007 05:54 by IMEMC Staff

The Detainees Media Center welcomed the release of 430 Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons and considered it as an achievement towards the release of all detainees regardless of their political affiliation, but added that Israel is avoiding the release of detainees who spent many years in prison and are sentenced to high terms including multiple life-terms.

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The Center also stated that there are dozens of children, women, elderly and sick detainees who should be freed without any preconditions, and that Israel insists on obstructing any progress in the peace process by not fulfilling its obligations.

Director of the Center, Osama Hamdouna, stated that all detainees should be freed as part of any peace deal, especially those who spent long years in prison, and that it is unacceptable that Israel keeps avoiding their release.

He added that the issue of the Palestinian political detainees is a humanitarian, moral and national issue which should be resolved by freeing all detainees without any preconditions.

On Monday, Israel released 430 detainees, including 21 detainees from the Gaza Strip; all are members of Fateh movement headed by the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas.

There are currently 11000 detainees imprisoned by Israel, including approximately 2,476 detainees who were kidnapped by the army this year.

Earlier on Monday at dawn, Israeli forces kidnapped 42 Palestinians in the West Bank; twelve in the West Bank city of Ramallah, 10 in Bethlehem, 15 in Hebron and the rest from various other areas in the West Bank.

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