Palestinians gather in Gaza to demand prisoner release

Holding photographs of relatives held in Israeli jails, several thousand people gathered outside the Red Cross office in Gaza City today to call for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Today’s rally came ahead of the annual Prisoners Day tomorrow, held in identification with Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, many of them for security offences ranging from stone-throwing to plotting suicide bombings.

This year’s rally came as negotiations continued for a prisoner swap in return for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas-linked militants last June.

Shalit’s captors have demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinians, including men convicted for the murders of Israelis.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas assured the crowd that the list of prisoners Hamas is demanding from Israel in return for Shalit includes “all our people from all the factions”.

Haniyeh said the list includes the best-known Palestinian prisoner – Marwan Barghouti, a popular militant leader from the rival Fatah group. Israel has said it will not free Barghouti.