RAMALLAH, Friday, January 22, 2021 (WAFA) – At least four new infections of COVID-19 have been registered among the Palestinian political detainees in the Israeli prison of Rimon, in the Naqab desert, bringing up total cases in the prison since January 11 to 73 cases, and in all Israeli prisons since the outbreak of the pandemic to 295, today said the Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS).

PPS said Israel's exclusive possession of the narrative concerning the coronavirus outbreak in the prisons poses a greater risk to the lives of the prisoners, especially the sick ones, given the inhumane imprisonment conditions in most of the Israeli prisons.

The group called on the international human rights organizations, on top of which the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to follow up the situation of the prisoners and to defy all the restrictions put in place by the Israeli prison authorities in the way to ensuring the safety and health wellbeing of the prisoners.

In the meantime, dozens of activists took part in a vigil outside Yasser Arafat Mausoleum in the city of Al-Bireh, in the occupied West Bank, in support of 82-year-old Fo'ad Shobaki, the eldest Palestinian prisoner in Israeli detention who yesterday tested positive for COVID-19.

The participants wavesd photos of the 82-year-old Palestinian prisoner and slogans demanding the ICRC and all international organizations to uphold their responsibilities and ensure his immediate release.

In recent months, Palestinian officials and international organizations repeatedly called on the Israeli occupation authorities to release the sick and elderly prisoners who are facing greater health risks due to the coronavirus outbreak.

M.N