This past month, for the first time since 2007, Palestinian children under the age of eight granted permission to visit their parents in Israeli prisons. The decision to allow family visits to Palestinians in Israeli prisons was made last summer, following a six-week hunger strike by some 2,000 prisoners.
Palestinian kids from Gaza above the age of eight are still prohibited from visiting their parents – the same goes for grandchildren and siblings. There are over 500 prisoners – among them 14 minors – from Gaza held in Israel. Over 400 of them are “security inmates” and approximately 100 prisoners are “criminal inmates.”
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has launched a campaign calling to allow full families visits to all Palestinian prisoners. Here is a short video with testimonies of children who have been prevented from meeting their fathers for several years now.
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