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Families get green light to visit Palestinian prisoners in Israel

Despite the increase in coronavirus cases, the Israel Prison Service has decided to allow visits by family members to Palestinian prisoners to resume under strict sanitary conditions.

Samih Qaadan, father of Palestinian prisoner Abdulrauf Qaadan, crosses out a day on a hand-made calendar created to countdown the number of days left to meet his son who has been held in an Israeli prison since 2004 for membership in Fatah movement's military wing, at his house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on July 13, 2020. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP) (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)
Samih Qaadan, father of Palestinian prisoner Abdulrauf Qaadan, crosses out a day on a handmade calendar created to count down the days left to see his son, who has been held in an Israeli prison since 2004 for membership in the Fatah movement's military wing, at his house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on July 13, 2020. — SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

According to a July 17 broadcast by the Kan radio station, this week the Israel Prison Service authorized family visits for Palestinian security prisoners. The IPS said that the decision was made jointly with the National Security Council and the visits will be coordinated with the Red Cross. The allowance only applies to family members residing in West Bank areas not significantly affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic. The IPS also explained that with many emergency regulations no longer in place, the family visits are a legal right that must be upheld.

The family visits are to take place according to Health Ministry instructions including "purple badge" requirements and guidelines on social distancing, masks and sanitation that also apply to government offices, hotels and other businesses.

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