DaysofPal—The Hamas Movement has strongly called for international, regional, and national solidarity with Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli prisons. The movement is asking people worldwide to commemorate April 17 as Palestinian Prisoners’ Day as a moment to spotlight their just and legitimate right to freedom.
Hamas emphasized the grave circumstances facing the more than 14,000 Palestinians who are presently detained by Israel, including women and children, in a statement issued on Wednesday. The group noted that among them are around 2,000 detainees from Gaza who have been arrested since the outbreak of the current escalation on October 7, 2023.
The statement painted a grim picture of conditions in Israeli detention facilities, where prisoners are reportedly subjected to severe psychological and physical abuse and systematic denial of basic human rights.
Israel has killed 63 detainees since the start of the war. The most recent case, the group said, was a child named Walid Ahmed, who died as a result of deliberate starvation. It further accused Israeli authorities of committing acts of enforced disappearance, particularly targeting detainees from Gaza.
Reaffirming the centrality of the prisoner issue to its agenda, Hamas stated that the liberation of detainees remains a top priority in any future prisoner exchange deal, framed within what it terms the “Al-Ahrar Flood” operation.
“The crimes committed against our prisoners will not break their will, nor will they go unpunished,” the movement asserted. “Such violations are not subject to any statute of limitations.”
The group held the Israeli government fully responsible for the safety and well-being of all detainees and denounced the international community’s silence in the face of what it described as “extrajudicial executions and systematic killings inside Israeli prisons.”
Contrasting its treatment of Israeli captives with Israel’s handling of Palestinian detainees, the movement said that its prisoners were treated humanely and by international law. It accused Israel of pursuing a “deliberate policy of torture and murder.”
Hamas called on international human rights and humanitarian organizations to document abuses against Palestinian prisoners, whether from Gaza, the West Bank, or Jerusalem, and to pursue legal accountability through international courts. It also urged swift and active international intervention to secure their immediate release.
The movement’s final statements urged all political forces and factions to come together in support of the cause and urged the Palestinian public to keep supporting the prisoners. Hamas highlighted the importance of honoring and caring for prisoners’ families, calling them a vital component of the Palestinian national struggle.
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