Gazans mark Palestinian Prisoner Day

Ashraf Shannon
Press TV, Gaza

Palestinians have taken to the streets of Gaza to mark the 41st anniversary of Palestinian Prisoner Day.

Palestinian Prisoner Day commemorates the first Palestinian prisoner exchange deal with Israel in 1974.

Protesters shouted slogans in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners and called for their immediate release.

Israeli forces have arrested nearly eight hundred thousand Palestinian since 1967.

Currently there are over 6500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails including women, minors and chronically prisoners.

Members of all Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Fateh and the Popular Resistance committees took part in the Prisoner Day rally.

The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) who helped capture Israeli soldier Gilaad Schalit in 2006 called on Palestinian armed wings to capture more Israeli soldiers in order to swap them with Palestinian Prisoners.

A prisoner swap deal in 2011 saw the release of over one thousand Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli soldier.

According to prisoners’ advocacy groups Palestinian prisoners continue to face a wide range of human rights violations in Israeli jails and detention centers amid what they describe as an international conspiracy of silence.

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