UK MPs sign motion to slam Israel’s detention of Palestinians

British MPs have signed an early day motion against illegal detention of Palestinians by the Israeli regime.

The motion, which was tabled by Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn in the House of Commons, condemned Tel Aviv for the plight of Palestinian prisoners held indefinitely in Israeli custody.

Nearly 20 MPs signed the motion, which expressed “alarm” over Israel’s ongoing practice of administrative detention, a controversial practice used by Israel which allows the Israeli authority to hold Palestinians indefinitely without charging them or holding a trial.

According to the motion, Israel’s practice is in breach of international agreements, including the 4th Geneva Convention (GCIV) and the European Convention for the prevention of torture of prisoners, according to which “no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

More than 4,500 Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli prisons, many of them without charge or trial. Among the inmates are Ayman Sharawneh, Samer al-Issawi, Jaafar Ezzedine, and Tareq Qaa’dan, who have been refusing food for months.

The four embarked on a hunger strike to protest against their administrative detention by the Israeli regime.

In February, thousands of Palestinian prisoners went on a one-day hunger strike in protest at the death of Arafat Jaradat, a 30-year-old father of two, who had died, according to Israeli prison authorities, of cardiac arrest in Israel’s Megiddo Prison.