Ma’ariv: Israel to escalate punitive steps against Hamas detainees

[ 06/05/2010 - 06:22 PM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Ma’ariv newspaper said Thursday that the Israeli ministerial committee headed by the minister of justice which is assigned to study the new punitive measures to be taken against Hamas prisoners in order to pressure their Movement to soften its demands regarding the swap deal.

An Israeli official told the newspaper that the delay in endorsement of the steps that should be taken against Hamas prisoners was a great disappointment to him.

“This is the only way to pressure Hamas regarding the Shalit deal because the prisoners are the spirit of the Palestinian society and there is no reason to let them live in prisons like kings,” the official stressed.

Ma’ariv also affirmed that minister of internal security Yitzhak Aharonovitch has explored lately with other senior officials ways of taking escalatory steps against Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails, adding that Knesset member Danny Danon also will introduce a draft law in this regard next Sunday.

The punitive measures Israel intends to take include depriving prisoners of Hamas of all privileges they were granted such as minimizing the visits made by lawyers and families, withdrawing all televisions, stopping to provide them with newspapers and magazines and preventing them from pursuing their education.


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