Arab League urges Red Cross to help Palestinian inmates

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Arab League on Monday sought intervention of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to protect Palestinians in Israeli prisons from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a letter addressed to Director-General of ICRC Robert Mardini, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul Gheit highlighted the danger of infection posed to 5000 Palestinian prisoners, reported Egypt’s official news agency MENA.
The prisoners included elderly, sick and those with low immunity, Abul Gheit said, urging Mardini to work for their release.
Underlining that Tel Aviv had released some Israelis, but has excluded Palestinian prisoners, Gheit said that this amounted to violating international law and human rights.
According to official Palestinian sources, there are 5,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, including 700 patients and 230 children.
Palestinian Prisoner’s Commission has reported three Israeli prison guards have tested positive for coronavirus. The Commission has expressed fears that there are chances of this virus spreading among prisoners.
According to the U.S.-based John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre, Israel has so far reported 8611 infected cases, with 55 deaths.
The novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, was first detected in Wuhan, China in December. There are currently more than 1.28 million cases worldwide and more than 70,000 deaths with over 270,000 recoveries.
*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz