“Thousands of Palestinian detainees have declared an open hunger strike in Israeli jails to protest against the dire conditions they face as a result of the racist practices committed by the Israeli occupation authorities against them and the Israeli rejection of their legitimate demands, while the Syrian captives, led by Sedqi al-Maqt, joined the strike,” an official source at the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said in a statement.
The source added that Syrian Arab Republic condemns Israel’s inhuman practices against the captives, particularly those who have been detained for more than 40 years in the Israeli jails, during which they suffered from policies of solitary confinement and administrative detention procedures in violation of international law, as well as the policy of medical negligence.
The source pointed out that those inhuman practices totally contradict the provisions of international humanitarian law and the minimum standards of human rights.
It went on saying that the Syrian Arab Republic calls on the international community, human rights organizations and Israel’s allies to save the detainees ‘ lives, meet their demands, end their suffering and stop the Israeli punitive measures against them.
“Syria, while supports the Palestinian and Syrian captives, sees that the continued suffering of those captives is a shame on Western countries which practice double standard policy and follow the policy of silence and blindness to the crimes committed by Israel against the Arab captives,” the source added.
It concluded by saying that the real solution to the suffering of the detainees comes through an international pressure on Israel to immediately release them.
SANA/MNA