Israel Intends to Use the Unlawful Combatant Law Against Gaza POWs

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Feb 16, 2009

GAZA, (PIC)-- The PA ministry of prisoners' affairs in Gaza said on Monday that Israel intends to use the law of "unlawful combatant" against more than 200 civilians kidnapped during its war on the Gaza Strip whose fate and whereabouts are still unknown and concealed by the IOA.

In a statement received by the PIC, Riyadh Al-Ashqar, the director of the information office in the ministry, explained that Israel devised the law of unlawful combatant to legalize the abduction of civilians endlessly and without any trial.

Ashqar added that according to this arbitrary law, the prisoners are denied the right of defending themselves or knowing the charges filed against them. Moreoever, the IOA does not level any indictment against them at the pretext that there are secret files, he pointed out.

The Palestinian official revealed that before the war, the IOA had founded a special judicial body assigned only to level indictments against those prisoners kidnapped during wars on Gaza or south Lebanon in the framework of the unlawful combatant law.

The official noted that the Israeli military courts classified several months ago four Palestinian prisoners as unlawful combatants, namely, Riyadh Ayad, Khaled Sa'eed, Farid Abu Thuraya, and Nasr Ayad.

Ashqar appealed to international human rights organizations, especially the Red Cross, to shoulder their humanitarian responsibilities and work on knowing the fate of those civilians kidnapped during the Israeli war on Gaza and getting them released.

In another context, the Palestinian international campaign to lift the siege warned of the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, pointing out that the Palestinians there suffer from the repercussions of the Israeli aggression and the unjust siege.

The campaign added that Israel still blocks the entry of many vital needs to Gaza such as fuel, cooking gas and construction materials.

The campaign condemned the Israeli siege as a sort of aggression on the Gaza people and a flagrant violation of all international conventions and treaties of human rights.

In a new development, another Palestinian patient called Hasan Halayqa was declared dead on Monday. The patient suffered a heart disease and failed to travel for medical treatment outside the Strip as a result of the Israeli siege.

His death raised the toll of the siege victims to 275 patients and the number is likely to rise especially since many patients in intensive care units are in very serious health status and their travel for medical treatment cannot be delayed.

For his part, Hammam Nasman, the director of public relations in the health ministry, appealed to the international community to intervene to pressure Israel to open the crossings, allow in medicines and medical supplies and facilitate the travel of Gaza patients to receive treatment aboard.