Iran asks UN to hold Israel accountable

Iran’s permanent envoy to the United Nations has expressed concern over Israel’s illegal imprisonment of Palestinians, urging the UN to address the plight of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Mohammad Khazaei called on the world body to pay attention to the harsh conditions of Palestinians kept in Israeli prisons.

The United Nations should announce that the Israeli regime must be held accountable for violation of ‘international rights,’ Khazaei said.

The remarks came after two Palestinian detainees, who were on an extended hunger strike in an Israeli jail, were moved to a hospital on Wednesday, following the deterioration of their health.

The two were among four prisoners, held without a formal charge, who have refused to eat for between three and six months. The other two, Tariq Qaadan and Jafar Ezzedine, started taking food on Wednesday after Israeli authorities promised not to extend their detention at a hearing next week.

The plight of Palestinian prisoners and the recent death of one inmate in an Israeli jail have sparked angry protests across the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank over the past week.

Arafat Jaradat, a 30-year-old father of two, died in disputed circumstances in jail last weekend. He was arrested on February 18 on suspicion of being involved in hurling stones at Israeli troopers at a demonstration in al-Khalil.

More than 4,500 Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli prisons, many of them without charge or trial.