An-Najah News -  In the midst of global preoccupation with combating the outbreak of the Coronavirus COVID19, the Israeli forces continue to storm Palestinian cities, assaulting the civilian population, without taking any preventive measures, and completely ignoring the dangers this behavior might cause in light of the spread of the infection in Israel, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med) said in a press statement.We the undersigned, institutions and individuals, launch this petition to demand.
 
The immediate release of more than 1000 Palestinians, who are among the more than (5000) imprisoned by Israel who are among the groups most at risk of infection with the COVID-19 (Corona) virus. These prisoners include those with underlying diseases and chronic illnesses (700), (41) female prisoners, and (180) child prisoners, as well as at least (430) administrative prisoners, who are detained by the occupation without charge or trial. 

The immediate cessation of nightly raids and detentions of Palestinians across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, which increases the risk of infection of the detainees and their families in the raided homes. 

The immediate halt of the use of arbitrary detention and administration detention, interrogations, and transfer between prisons and detention centers, as all these measures carry the risk of causing new COVID-19 infections.  

An increase in the number of ICRC staff working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, to respond to the urgent and new demands of the pandemic. 

We have real and justified fears about the health, safety, and basic rights of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel based on the conditions of these prisoners’ incarceration and recent developments inside the Israeli occupation’s prisons, as well as Israel’s criminally negligent behavior in the past, which has resulted in serious health implications for dozens of prisoners. 

We also demand that the International Red Cross increase the number of its staff working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as the current staff cannot play an effective role in the event of an emergency. This must necessarily include a leading role of the ICRC in the medical examination of prisoners and the supervision of the procedures of managing the occupation prisons under the current situation. 

Our fears of the spread of Corona virus in Israeli prisons are compounded by the following developments: 

The Israeli Occupation’s Prisons Authority does not provide the minimum precautions necessary to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which increases the level of danger in the overcrowded cells that lack the minimum required sanitary conditions. 
The Israeli Occupation’s Prison Authority imposed new structural measures that put the prisoners in additional isolation, while not taking any precautions to limit the danger of transmission from prison guards and other staff. This, despite the fact that occupation authorities have already confirmed cases of suspicion and infection among prison guards, interrogators, and military court personnel.  
Israel has suspended all family and legal counsel visits since the onset of the crisis, further isolating the prisoners, while taking additional punitive measures, including the reduction of dozens of food and other items, including sanitary products, usually available to them through the canteen. 
A number of Israeli interrogators, soldiers, and officers, who are the only contact prisoners have with the outside world, have either tested positive or been quarantined. Yet, not tests or protection measures have been taken to protect the prisoners. 
Since the onset of the crisis, Israeli military courts, which are a tool of oppression, have imposed additional harsher conditions to their procedures and there are serious fears that the courts will resort to using administrative detention orders against detainees under the pretext of the current emergency.  

Palestinians imprisoned by Israel are protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention. They are entitled to their basic human rights, including the right to proper healthcare. As an occupying Power, Israel also has a legal and moral obligation to ensure the safety, health, and wellbeing of thousands of Palestinians it has imprisoned unjustly and under illegal conditions.