RAMALLAH: Palestine’s factions have agreed to attract up a complete plan, which incorporates escalating resistance in numerous areas of the West Financial institution and getting ready for strikes inside prisons, which will be the largest within the historical past of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
This follows a risk that the right-wing extremist Israeli Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir may change into the minister of inside safety and police and comply with up on his threats to position extra restrictions on Palestinian prisoners.
On Monday, he insisted that Likud chief and election winner Benjamin Netanyahu give him the ministry with broad powers when he kinds the following Israeli authorities.
Palestinian sources anticipate the outbreak of clashes in opposition to the Israeli military to forestall Ben-Gvir from implementing his plan, which targets practically 5,000 prisoners.
Ben-Gvir’s insistence that his celebration take three ministerial portfolios, together with the Ministry of Inner Safety and the police, with expanded powers made the headlines in Israeli newspapers on Tuesday.
Salem Badi, 50, a former prisoner from Al-Bireh metropolis, instructed Arab News that the Palestinian safety prisoners’ issues about Ben-Gvir’s threats are based. He mentioned that 9 months in the past, the ultra-right chief tried to go to Ofer jail close to Ramallah, the place Badi was detained, and made provocative statements relating to the prisoners’ residing situations.
“He got here to Ofer jail and accused us of residing in a five-star resort and incited the jail administration in opposition to us,” Badi instructed Arab News.
Ben-Gvir additionally visited an Israeli hospital the place Palestinian safety prisoners who have been on starvation strike have been receiving therapy and made provocative statements in opposition to them, Badi mentioned.
Badi mentioned the difficulties have been created by Israel’s former Minster of Inner Safety Gilad Erdam, who curtailed prisoners’ freedom to purchase meals from the jail’s cafeteria, decreased their sport hours and breaks and prevented them from receiving long-distance college schooling.
“All this time, the Israeli safety authorities have been harassing the Palestinian safety prisoners, however with the arrival of Ben-Gvir, the harassment and restrictions may see a harmful escalation,” Badi mentioned.
Maj. Gen. Qadri Abu Baker, head of the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Fee, instructed Arab News that he too is anxious about the potential for Ben-Gvir taking on the ministry and abusing Palestinian prisoners in an unprecedented method.
“Ben-Gvir is set to take revenge on the Palestinian prisoners as a result of he considers them terrorists, and we’ve got no doubts about his intention to harass them,” Abu Baker instructed Arab News.
He mentioned if Ben-Gvir turns into the minister of inside safety, he’ll forestall the presence of Palestinian organizations inside prisons and make it troublesome for the prisoners’ households to pay them visits.
Abu Bakr mentioned that the prisoners wouldn’t give up to such measures and that the Palestinian individuals would stand in solidarity with them.
He mentioned his group was speaking with the UN, the Crimson Cross, the World Well being Group and numerous worldwide human rights teams to forestall the implementation of Ben-Gvir’s plans.
Israeli authorities have arrested over 1 million Palestinians since their occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967.
The prisoners have waged dozens of starvation strikes calling for an enchancment of their situations of detention.
There at the moment are 4,700 prisoners, together with 31 ladies, 175 youngsters, and 560 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment. This quantity additionally consists of over 300 prisoners who’ve spent greater than 20 years behind bars, 600 sick prisoners, 25 prisoners with most cancers, 9 on dialysis, eight fully paralyzed and dozens of aged individuals.
Qadoura Fares, who spent 18 years in Israeli prisons and now heads the Palestinian Prisoner Membership, instructed Arab News: “We’re involved in regards to the harmful ideology and doctrine that Ben-Gvir espouses. He’s so harmful that even Israel refused to recruit him in its military due to his excessive stances.”
Fares mentioned the emergence of Ben-Gvir and the management of the Israeli extremist proper over the federal government poses a risk to all of the Palestinian individuals and stability within the area.
Fares added: “Ben-Gvir hangs an image of Baruch Goldstein, the extremist Jew who dedicated the Ibrahimi Mosque bloodbath in Hebron in 1994, by which 29 Palestinian worshipers have been killed and 129 injured.
“He was arrested greater than as soon as for felony causes, and Netanyahu refused to ally with him earlier than. Even earlier than the latest elections, he refused to take an image with Ben-Gvir.”
