A senior Hamas leader in Gaza on Wednesday called on the international criminal court to convict Israeli Minister of Internal Security Avi Dichter and chief of Israeli Prisons' Authorities Beni Kinyak.
"The two should be convicted and brought to court in Hague for committing crimes against humanity," urged Ahmed Shweideh, minister of prisoners' affairs in the deposed Hamas-ruled government.
In a statement sent to reporters, Shweideh said that "Dichter is in charge of all Israeli prisons, which practice a slow death against 1300 patients imprisoned in Israeli jails, who are deprived from receiving the proper medical treatment at specialized hospitals."
Israel is holding around 11,000 Palestinian prisoners in its jails. The vast majority of them were arrested during the Palestinian armed uprising, or Intifada against Israel, which erupted in late September 2000.
"Since 1967, Israel has killed 125 prisoners into its jails. They all died under excessive torture and medical neglect, 14 of them died during the period Dichetr is a minister," said Shweideh.
Well-informed sources said that Israel may release 200 prisoners from its jails as a goodwill gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who met on Tuesday evening with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Last month, Israel freed 198 prisoners, also as a goodwill gesture to Abbas to strengthen the position of his Palestinian National Authority (PNA), which was weaken due to internal split between the Hamas-ruled Gaza and the West Bank under Abbas' PNA.
Hamas has been holding Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit for more than two years in Gaza. The Islamic Hamas movement wants Israel to free around 1450 Palestinian prisoners for the release of Shalit.
Source: Xinhua
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