Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) stressed that raiding Gilboa prison by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) with the Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, and the firing of sound bombs inside the prison is a dangerous escalation of violence against defenseless Palestinian prisoners.
It also emphasised that Ben Gvir’s systematic crimes against Palestinians requires an immediate international deterrence.
Ben Gvir’s measures against the Palestinian prisoners reveal his intention to liquidate them all, as his deputy previously state that the Israeli forces are not concerned with rehabilitating the prisoners, whom he described as “saboteurs”.
Ben Gvir restrictive policies against the Palestinian prisoners include reducing their right to exercise and to receiving visits, as well as the repeated prison raids and barbaric assaults on prisoners.
Many of the Palestinian prisoners suffer from ill-treatment and physical and psychological torture. Many of them developed mental illnesses and serious physical diseases that stops them from living normally, whether inside or outside the prison. It is clear that this systematic abuse and humiliation does not only target Palestinian prisoners, but the Palestinian people as a whole.
Ben Gvir’s practices and successive statements clearly reflect the oppressive and racist mentality of a head of security forces, which is in line with the Israeli laws, as the Israeli media revealed Ben Gvir’s intention to introduce a law allowing the shooting of Palestinian demonstrators.
The draft law also includes the use of biometric surveillance cameras in public places that provide the police with data on people participating in demonstrations, in an attempt to terrorise Palestinians and strip them of their right to freedom of opinion and expression.
AOHR UK joins the voices calling for international protection for the Palestinians, especially in light of the increased violations of the occupation against them and the war crimes committed since the beginning of the occupation until now.
Turning a blind eye by the international community to the violations of the Israeli occupation has encouraged the commission of more violations by the Israeli occupation, which acts as if it is above international laws and obligations.
Ben Gvir’s current position and the current policy of the Israeli government, coupled with the failure of the international community to impose human rights principles and establish justice as a safety valve for security, peace and stability, is a waste of all diplomatic efforts to solve the remaining problems in the region and the entire world.
AOHR UK reminds the international community to play its role and apply effective measures to pressure the Israeli occupation to respect human rights and to enable accountability for all those responsible for crimes committed against Palestinians, whether now or in the past.
