News- Middle East: Two Palestinian prisoners' advocacy groups say Israeli officials have enacted stricter limitations on attorneys overseeing the treatment of Palestinian prisoners and detainees at the regime’s incarceration facilities, both during prison visits and court proceedings.

The Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said in a joint statement on Monday that the Israel Prison Service, in addition to restrictions imposed since the onset of the genocidal war in Gaza, has now prohibited lawyers from conveying any greetings or messages from families to prisoners.

Lawyers have been cautioned that they would encounter punitive actions if they tried to deliver such messages during visits or in court.

The organizations stated that these actions are part of a broader initiative aimed at thoroughly separating inmates from the external environment and their relatives, emphasizing that Israel persists in obstructing visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and has barred family visits since the onset of the bloody Gaza onslaught.

At the onset of the conflict, Israel imposed a total prohibition on lawyers visiting inmates. Following months of advocacy from human rights organizations, visits were reinstated, albeit under what the announcement referred to as “severe obstacles,” which included prison officials declaring a “state of emergency” upon a lawyer's arrival to annul a meeting after they had traveled long distances – a tactic repeated multiple times.

Additional obstacles consist of prolonged delays in the processing of visit requests, which can extend for several weeks or even months, particularly affecting individuals serving life sentences.

Furthermore, the groups have recorded instances of inmates being assaulted or threatened prior to or following their meetings with legal representatives, along with a recent surge of prohibitions that restrict specific lawyers from visiting their clients for multiple consecutive months.

The statement additionally charged Israel with perpetrating enforced disappearance against numerous prisoners from Gaza by obstructing their legal access. In recent months, restricted visits have been permitted for certain detainees from Gaza, albeit under stringent security measures.

According to prisoners' rights organizations, Israel has detained approximately 18,500 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since October 7, 2023. Some of the individuals have been released.

By early July, about 10,800 Palestinians were still incarcerated in Israeli prisons, comprising 49 women and 450 children, marking the highest figures since the Second Intifada in 2000.

The conditions under which Palestinian inmates are held by Israel are deplorable, with insufficient hygienic standards. Additionally, Palestinian prisoners have faced ongoing torture, harassment, and repression.

Palestinian detainees have persistently engaged in open-ended hunger strikes to convey their anger regarding their unlawful detention.

Human rights organizations assert that Israel persists in infringing upon all rights and freedoms afforded to prisoners under the Fourth Geneva Convention and international laws.

As reported by the Palestine Detainees Studies Center, approximately 60 percent of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails are afflicted with chronic illnesses, with several of them having died either during their detention or following their release as a result of the severity of their conditions.

Source: Press TV