PALESTINIAN PRISONERS

That this House calls for the release of all illegally held prisoners in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories; notes that Israel has released some Palestinian prisoners and has this week agreed to release a further 450 prisoners; however expresses concern that there are around 10,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails and detention centres; notes that of the prisoners, over 300 are children, 96 are women and 840 are administrative detainees held without charge or trial for indefinite periods of time; abhors the continued detention of some 40 Palestinian Legislative Council Members since the Hamas election victory in 2006; further notes that according to the UN, the Palestinians are among the most highly incarcerated population in the world; is alarmed at the on-going accounts of violations of the right to family visits, the right to worship, the right to receive correspondence, the right to humane conditions of detention and transfer, to adequate food and medical care, and the right to a fair public trial; further notes that such violations constitute a breach of the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions; believes that the issue of Palestinian prisoners constitutes a running sore fuelling the conflict; and calls on the UK Government to apply political pressure to Israel to end its decades-long practice of arbitrary arrests and detention, in particular of democratically elected parliamentarians.