Palestinians suffer as Israel withholds prison visitations

Israel continues to deny permission for visits to Palestinian prisoners languishing in Israeli jails.

Israel Prison Services announced in June that it would halt visits between Gaza prisoners linked with Hamas and their families. The decision was taken to pressure Hamas – which rules Gaza – into talks about a possible exchange of prisoners.

"The situation is difficult for me to explain what I am feeling. When they deny us visiting him, we are terribly sad," the wife of Palestinian prisoner Basil Abu Zeina said. "It's a horrible feeling to have; we are all very depressed. Basil is even more sad when he can't see his family. This is just provocation from them – it's because he's a member of Hamas," said the wife.

Amnesty International says Israel's decades-long policy of detaining Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza inside Israeli jails, and depriving them of family visits is "cruel" and a violation of international law.

TRT World's Rahul Radhakrishnan has more.