Cairo, April 16 (QNA) - The Arab League strongly condemned on Thursday the ongoing Israeli occupation violations against Palestinian and Arab prisoners and detainees, holding Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for their lives. It noted that their number exceeded 9,600 prisoners as of early April, including 84 female detainees and around 350 children.

In a statement marking the Arab Day for Palestinian and Arab Prisoners, observed annually on April 17, the Arab League reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the cause of Palestinian and Arab prisoners, stressing that it remains a central issue in joint Arab action through all legitimate means, until the release of the last prisoner and the achievement of a just and comprehensive peace in the region.

The statement strongly condemned repeated assaults against prisoner Marwan Barghouti by Israeli occupation prison suppression units, which reportedly caused injuries and severe bleeding, alongside the deliberate denial of medical care in what it described as a clear attempt to directly endanger his life.

It said these fascist attacks coincide with the 24th anniversary of Barghouti's detention and fall within a systematic policy of repression against Palestinian prisoners, carried out under the protection of an extremist minister known internationally for his racist positions.

The League called on the international community and human rights organizations to assume their urgent responsibilities to halt these grave violations, which it said constitute a blatant breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law.

It noted that the Arab League marks the Arab Day for Palestinian and Arab Prisoners on April 17 each year, following its adoption at the Arab Summit in Damascus in 2008, describing it as a national and Arab occasion to reaffirm solidarity with Palestinian and Arab prisoners and highlight their humanitarian suffering amid violations of international conventions, particularly the Geneva Conventions of 1949. (QNA)