Hamas decries Israel’s detention of MP Abu Tir amid coronavirus outbreak

The Palestinian Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, has strongly condemned Israel’s detention of legislator Muhammad Abu Tir along with a number of other Palestinians during separate overnight raids across the occupied West Bank, expressing worry about his life amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

News ID: 449987

Date: 13 April 2020 - 22:27

RNA - Hamas, in a press release on Monday, denounced the arrest of the 69-year-old Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member at his home in the central West Bank city of Ramallah in the early hours of the day, and described it as part of Israeli acts of aggression against the occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds, its residents and freedom of expression.

The Palestinian resistance movement then held the Israeli regime fully responsible for the life of Abu Tir, stressing that his detention amid the coronavirus outbreak demonstrates the brutality and sadistic nature of the Israeli regime.

Hamas also slammed Israel’s policy of detaining the elected representatives of the Palestinian people.

It further stated that such a conduct is aimed at undermining their pivotal role in serving the Palestinian nation, emphasizing that the move requires international exposition and punishment.

Hamas has already warned about the dire consequences of keeping Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and detention facilities, slamming the Tel Aviv regime’s utter disregard for local and international calls to release them amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

On April 7, Shaker Amara, a Hamas leader, said in a statement  that the Israeli regime sought to increase the sufferings of the Palestinian nation through more acts of aggression, arbitrary arrests and fearmongering in the wake of the global health crisis.

He added, “Palestinian prisoners being held inside Israeli jails live in a tragic situation and are gripped by the fear of coronavirus spread inside prisons. The Israel Prison Service (IPS) ignores previous warnings and relevant instructions to prevent the new coronavirus spread, whilst the prisoners need exceptional measures to confront the virus.”

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