Egypt calls on Red Cross to protect its prisoners

Egypt laid on Israel the responsibility for any harm that can affect the lives of Egyptian prisoners in Israeli jails, calling on the International Red Cross to inquire about their status.

Egypt authorized its embassy in Tel Aviv to follow up on the prisoners' health and legal states. This took place after 24 Egyptian prisoners -- most of them from Sinai -- went on a hunger strike in one of Beer Sab prisons, because the Israeli authorities kept them imprisoned through Israeli court decisions due to their entering Israel illegally.

An Egyptian source hinted at the refusal of the Israeli authorities to cooperate with Cairo concerning the situation of the detainees in Israeli prisons, and neglect formal notes in this concern, the most prominent of which is the case of Mahmoud El-Sawarka, whose health state is extremely deteriorated.