Family visits to Palestinian men from the West Bank held in Israeli jails are to be reduced from two to one a month from July, the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed yesterday.
The ICRC, which has facilitated family visits to Palestinian prisoners for decades, said the measure was being enforced by budget cuts and a need to make efficiency savings in the cost of bussing families to and from prisons in Israel.
It said women prisoners and minors would not be affected by the cuts, while families from Gaza would also be exempt.
Some 200 Palestinians demonstrated against the move outside ICRC headquarters in annexed Arab east Jerusalem on Tuesday.
The Palestinian Prisoners Club called on the ICRC to reverse its decision.
Some 7,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli jails, the great majority of them men.
Families of Palestinians who are imprisoned in Israeli jails protest in front of the International Red Cross offices in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
