The Israeli prison services (IPS) refused to provide Palestinian prisoners with their winter clothing, rights sources revealed Sunday.
Amina Al-Taweel, spokeswoman for the Palestine Center for Prisoner Studies, affirmed that the Israeli authorities are taking advantage of the cold weather to tighten restrictions on the prisoners.
The Palestinian prisoners’ suffering usually worsens during the winter, as IPS denies them replenishing their winter clothing, she clarified.
Al-Taweel also pointed to the lack of heating in Israeli jails.
As the right-wing extremist Israeli Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir might become the minister of internal security, he has threatened to place unprecedented restrictions on Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
The plan will seek to restrict the “independence” of prisoners inside Israeli jails, preventing the organization of prisoners into groups reflecting Palestinian factions outside prison.
In addition, Ben-Gvir will call for an end to dealing with prisoners through a spokesperson or representative in their name, but instead “identify a variable representative” who will only correspond with prison authorities on public issues rather than on the personal matters of the prisoners.
Ben-Gvir’s plan also aims to prevent prisoners from preparing food within their own prison sections – with food only provided through the prison authority itself – in addition to reducing prisoners’ water consumption.
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