APAwire - APAwire CLIENTS ONLY, Jenin- 07 July 2021. Israel allows Palestinians to return to visit their relatives who held in jails after a year's break due to the Corona virus, in the West bank city of Jenin.
01-SOUDBITE: Jamal Abu Akl, father of the prisoner Mohammad Abu Akl
02-SOUDBITE: The mother of the prisoner Mohammad Abu Akl
RESTRICTION SUMMARY: APAwire CLIENTS ONLY SHOTLIST: APAwire - APAwire CLIENTS ONLY, Jenin- 07 July 2021. Israel allows Palestinians to return to visit their relatives who held in jails after a year's break due to the Corona virus, in the West bank city of Jenin. 01-SOUDBITE: Jamal Abu Akl, father of the prisoner Mohammad Abu Akl 02-SOUDBITE: The mother of the prisoner Mohammad Abu Akl STORYLINE: Until the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa, or Second Intifada in September 2000, family visits to Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli prisons were regular and took place largely without interruption. However, following the Israeli re-invasion of the West Bank and the resulting imposition of movement restrictions, all Palestinian families from the occupied territory who wish to visit a family member detained in Israel – with the exception of Jerusalem ID holders – must now receive an entry permit into Israel. The application process for entry permits is lengthy and can take between one and three months, while the permit itself is valid for only one year. The application is submitted via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and then transferred to the Israeli authorities. Visits to Palestinian prisoners and detainees are restricted to first-degree relatives – children, spouses, parents, siblings, and grandparents only, thus isolating the detainee from his or her social and professional environment. Men between the ages of 16 and 35 are typically prevented from visiting prisons inside Israel and receive the special entry permits only once a year if they are the brother of the detainee and biannually if they are the son of the detainee. Furthermore, in practice, hundreds of families fail to receive permits at all, based on undisclosed “security grounds”. When family visits are allowed, they take place once every two weeks for 45 minutes. In the visiting room, a glass window separates the visitor and the prisoner. Physical contact with the detainee is generally forbidden and communication takes place through a telephone or through holes in the glass. Only children under the age of eight are allowed physical contact with the detainee, but strict time restrictions are imposed. Prison guards usually allow children to enter the detainee’s side of the visiting room for the last 10 or 15 minutes of the visit. On 6 June 2007, citing unspecified security reasons, Israeli authorities suspended the ICRC Family Visits Programme in the Gaza Strip, effectively barring all means of communication between Gazan prisoners and the outside world. Footage by APAwire
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