‘Hamas strives for release of Palestinian detainees'

GAZA, Palestine

The Palestinian Hamas group stressed Friday its determination to set free Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The group continues its efforts to defend the rights of Palestinians in Israeli prisons through political and legal means, Maher Salah, the head of Hamas in the Palestinian diaspora, said in a written statement on the occasion of Palestinian Prisoners' Day.

Hamas is determined to raise international awareness on the issue, Salah said.

He stressed that more international pressure should be put on Israel to protect Palestinian prisoners from deadly coronavirus and ensure their release.

Palestinians first began marking Prisoners' Day in 1974, when the Palestinian National Council adopted April 17 as a national -- and international -- day on which to show solidarity with Palestinian detainees.

Over a million Palestinians have been held in Israeli jails since 1967, when Israel occupied West Bank, Gaza.

The number of novel coronavirus cases in Israel has risen to 12,855, and the death toll to 148, the country’s Health Ministry said Friday.

Overall, the virus has spread to 185 countries, infecting more than 2.21 million people, and killing more than 151,000 worldwide since it first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara