JERUSALEM – 14 March 2006: The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH) strongly condemns Israel's latest, and still ongoing, military assault against the Moqata'a compound in the West Bank town of Jericho, in which the Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is being held, among other activists.

The current situation in Jericho is a reminder to the international community of Israel's complete disregard to the basic principles of humanitarian law, and its repeated violation of signed agreements with the Palestinian Authority (including the relevant agreement in 2002, in which the rights of the political prisoners held inside the Moqata'a are protected).

MIFTAH calls for an immediate end to this assault, and urges the international community to take concrete steps to stop Israel's destructive measures, which are threatening to provoke a wider escalation of the situation in the Palestinian territories.

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For further information, please contact: Mr. Mousa Qous (Arabic), or
Mr. Rami Bathish (English)
Media and Information Programme, MIFTAH
Tel: +972 2 585 1842
Fax: +972 2 583 5184
E-mail: mip@miftah.org