Press Statement

The decision of the Zionist Public Security Minister to withhold coronavirus vaccinations from Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails violates international law and international humanitarian law, especially the Geneva Conventions.

This decision is a war crime in which the occupying power violates the rights of prisoners and reflects racism towards non-Jews, a behavior expected after the Zionist Knesset approved the racist "Jewish State" law in 2018.

Articles (146) and (147) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, on which the occupying power signed, obligate it to provide health care and necessary treatment to Palestinian prisoners, who are considered prisoners of war.

The occupying power bears full responsibility for the lives of thousands of prisoners, especially children, women, the sick and the elderly.

We call on the international community to put pressure on the occupying power to include the prisoners in the COVID vaccination campaign, as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross to play its role in this regard.

Dr Basem Naim

Member of Hamas International Office