Qaraqe calls for release of long-term prisoners

The Palestinian Authority detainee affairs minister on Wednesday urged Egypt to pressure Israel to release long-term prisoners. Issa Qaraqe called on the Egyptian government -- which mediated a recent prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas -- to push for the release of prisoners detained before 1993. He said 127 Palestinians have been detained in Israel for over 18 years, prior to the signing of the Oslo Accords. The minister's comments were made during a visit to the mother of Issa Abed Rabbo in Duheisha refugee camp in Bethlehem. Abed Rabbo has been in jail in Israel for 27 years and is serving a life sentence. Qaraqe noted that many long-term prisoners were excluded from the recent prisoner swap deal, in which Israel agreed to release over 1,000 prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier held in Gaza since 2006. Some 477 prisoners were released in October and an additional 550 prisoners are yet to be freed. Qaraqe urged Egypt to intervene and pressure the Israeli government to free long-term detainees in the second phase of the deal. Qaraqe said many of the prisoners who have been in jail for decades are now elderly, and 45 of them are sick, suffering from cancer, paraplegia and heart diseases. He added that Israel failed to provide medical care for prisoners and said they needed to be released to save their lives.