CAIRO: Commemorating the international day for solidarity with hostages and detainees, the Arab League strongly condemned Zionist occupation’s treatment of the prisoners and captives held under their custody. The Arab League released a statement on Saturday, vehemently calling on the international community, media outlets and humanitarian organizations across the board to take responsibility, voice their solidarity and expose the limitless violations by Zionist occupation.

These violations, the statement continued, including deliberate starvation, physical torture, sexual aggression, and many more, are only happening as a result of the international community’s silence, the pan-Arab organization lamented. It is imperative that the international community immediately intervene and stop the physical and mental abuse that prisoners are subjected to in detention camps, as it is imperative to pressure the occupation to cease their humanitarian crimes and international law violations, the statement added.

The Arab League demanded that all concerned parties must start an investigation on occupation detention camps and the countless abhorrent crimes happening inside them, and hold everyone responsible accountable according to international law, the statement added.

The statement pointed to the remarks of Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Minister of National Security, in which he affirmed that Palestinian detainees would get the bare-minimum of their rights, as he called for legislating capital punishment while also preventing the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from visiting any prisons or detention camps. These inhumane and barbaric behaviors of the Zionist occupation not only reflect how they approach the war on Gaza, but also their continuous unjustifiable raids on the West Bank, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has expressed deep concern regarding the increased violent acts and severe violations committed by Zionist occupation authorities against Palestinian prisoners. “These violations have been well-documented by various legal entities and include acts such as execution, torture, starvation, rape, isolation, and forced disappearance,” the OIC said in a press release.

The detainees from the Gaza Strip have been particularly affected, resulting in the deaths of eighteen Gazan prisoners in Zionist occupation prisons since October 7, 2023. Additionally, there are many other detainees killed, but their identities have not yet been disclosed. The OIC has strongly denounced the ongoing indiscriminate detention drives carried out by Zionist authorities, according to the statement.

“These actions have resulted in a significant increase in the number of Palestinian detainees, with the current count exceeding 9,700 individuals. “Among them are 80 female detainees, 52 journalists, and over 250 children, in addition to more than 3,380 individuals held in administrative detention without formal charges or trial,” it regretted, adding that nearly 600 detainees are serving life sentences. The OIC requested an immediate international inquiry into the cruel conditions and continuous infringements against Palestinian detainees in occupation prisons.

“These actions are considered war crimes and crimes against humanity, and they blatantly breach the standards and regulations set forth by international humanitarian law, the Human Rights Charter, the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, and other pertinent international agreements,” the statement added. The OIC urged the international community and human rights organizations to take action to compel Zionist authorities to treat Palestinian prisoners in line with international conventions. It reiterated the support for protecting the rights of Palestinian prisoners, pledging to convey their grievances to the international community in pursuit of freedom and justice.

5 killed in West Bank

In another development, a Zionist drone strike killed five people in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, the Palestinian press agency Wafa reported, while the military said it struck “five terrorists” on their way to carry out an attack. According to Wafa, Zionist military drone targeted a vehicle “with two missiles” which caught fire, killing five men. The director of the Thabet Thabet Hospital in Tulkarem said in a statement that “five martyrs” had arrived at the facility after “a drone strike on a Palestinian vehicle close to the village of Zeita in Tulkarem”.

Zionist military said its air force “struck five terrorists in a vehicle... who were on their way to carry out” an attack. “The Zionist police are currently conducting a counterterrorism activity in the area of Tulkarem”, the military said in a statement. At the scene of the strike a witness told AFP, “I live less than 50 meters from here. We came (after) the sound of an explosion and saw a vehicle on fire” on the road towards Zeita, to the north of Tulkarem. “Next to it, we saw a body lying on the road. Inside the vehicle, there were three charred bodies, from what we were able to see, completely burnt,” added Nasser, who declined to have his last name published. — Agencies