Relatives of detainees barred from rallying outside Abbas’s palace

The Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces on Wednesday afternoon prevented Palestinian citizens from holding a peaceful sit-in outside the presidential headquarters in Ramallah city to demand the release of political detainees from West Bank jails.

Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that PA security soldiers barred relatives of citizens detained illegally in PA jails from rallying outside the palace of president Mahmoud Abbas to protest politically motivated arrests.

The sources added that the protesters had to hold their rally at al-Manara traffic circle in central Ramallah, where they carried pictures of their detained relatives.

Recently, the PA security agencies escalated their arrest of citizens, with no reason, after Abbas held Hamas responsible for the failed attack on the motorcade of premier Rami al-Hamdallah last month in Gaza.

According to statistics, the PA security apparatuses arrested more than 150 citizens, mostly ex-detainees in Israeli jails and some journalists, following Abbas’s speech against Hamas. Several of those detainees were released later, but the PA security agencies still refuse to comply with court verdicts ordering the release of many others.