Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) on Tuesday called on Israel to release all Palestinian prisoners who are held without charges from Israeli prisons, alongside the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas.
“Every innocent civilian should be released and reunited with their family, no matter their faith or ethnicity,” Tlaib said in a statement Tuesday. “I will continue to call for the release of all hostages, as well as the innocent Palestinians who were arbitrarily detained by the Israeli government without charge or trial.”
The release of Israeli hostages by Hamas continued Tuesday after the two sides agreed to extend a cease-fire and hostage deal, which has also resulted in the release of some Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
The hostage deal was the culmination of weeks of negotiations between the U.S., Qatar, Israel and Hamas. It has resulted in the release of 60 Israeli hostages, dozens of other hostages, about 180 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. The deal has halted fighting in the conflict for five days.
Approximately 45 of the released Palestinians were women, and the remaining were children and teenagers.
The deal, as it stands, is set to expire Thursday following a two-day extension. The U.S. and Israeli governments have supported further extensions if Hamas continues to release hostages. The terrorist organization is believed to still hold over 100 hostages taken in brutal Oct. 7 attacks on Israeli border communities.
Tlaib, who is the only member of Congress of Palestinian heritage, is the most vocal advocate for Palestinians on Capitol Hill. She has called for a long-term cease-fire in the conflict, and was censured by the House this month for comments perceived as anti-Israel.
Israeli human rights group B’tselem estimated that about 5,700 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons as of August. Over 1,300 of them were in “administrative detention” and were not charged with any crime, the group found.
Those 1,310 prisoners are the group Tlaib wants released.
“On average, 500-700 children are detained by Israeli forces every year,” Tlaib said. “The mistreatment of children is widespread and systematic.”
Human rights organizations have painted grim pictures of abuse among Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli custody. Save the Children reported that 86 percent of Palestinian children held in Israeli prisons were physically abused and 69 percent were forcibly strip-searched.
Save the Children said that a majority of children were beaten and blindfolded when arrested, interrogated at unknown locations without the presence of a caregiver, and were often deprived of food, water and sleep or access to legal counsel, according to the research.
It also found that 60 percent of the children were held in solitary confinement and the same proportion beaten with sticks while in custody, the organizations said.
Additional research from Save the Children since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war released this week claims that 145 Palestinian children were arrested by Israeli forces between Oct. 7 and Nov. 3.
In Tuesday’s statement, Tlaib called on fellow lawmakers to make similar demands of the Biden administration and the Israeli government.
“I support the release of Israeli civilians and ask my colleagues to demand the same for Palestinian civilians held by Israeli forces without charge or trial,” she said. “Their failure to do so demonstrates their refusal to view Palestinians as equal human beings who deserve the same rights, freedom, and human dignity.”
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