Israel Should Reduce Palestinian Detentions
Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch indicated that Israel should reduce its use of administrative detention against Palestinian suspects, a senior official said on Thursday, amid an ongoing wave of hunger strikes among Palestinian detainees.
According to the official, Aharonovitch’s remarks were made during a special meeting he convened to discuss the hunger strikes on Tuesday, when he said “we have to make sure that we’re making suitable use [of administrative detention], according to need.”
According to the Israeli Prison Service, 300 Palestinian prisoners are currently being held under administrative detention in Israeli prisons, compared to as many as 1,500 five years ago.
Despite the drop, officials at the Justice Ministry, the Public Security Ministry, and the Foreign Ministry have all said, the policy should be downsized even more.
Aharonovitch’s reported remark were made following a recent wave of hunger strikes, inspired by Islamic Jihad operative Khad er Adnan who staged a hunger strike for over two months beginning late last year to protest Israel’s administrative detention policy.
For more, go to Haaretz.com
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