CAIRO, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The Arab Parliament called on the United Nations on Wednesday to form a panel to probe into what it referred to as "Israeli crimes" against Palestinian prisoners.
In a statement on the occasion of the Palestinian Prisoners Day, Arab Parliament Speaker Mashaal bin Fahm al-Salami urged the UN "to send an international investigative committee to the Israeli occupation prisons to be acquainted with the racist practices and massive violations being committed on a daily basis against Palestinian prisoners."
He called on the UN as well as other world bodies and human rights institutions to refer to the violations committed by the Israelis against Palestinian prisoners as "war crimes and crimes against humanity that require the pursue of their perpetrators for urgent international trial."
On Tuesday, hundreds of Palestinians marked the Prisoners Day as part of the continuous mass protests known as the "Great March of Return" that started in late March in five major spots along Gaza's eastern borders with Israel.
The ongoing Great Return protests are meant to mark the 42nd anniversary of the "Land Day" demanding the right of return of some 750,000 Palestinian refugees.
Dozens of Palestinians were killed and more than 2,500 others were injured by the Israeli forces since the protests started on March 30.
According to a report by Palestinian Prisoner's Club Association, about 1 million cases of Palestinian arrests have been documented since 1967, with 1,928 Palestinians arrested in 2018.
The Palestinians have been marking the Prisoners Day on April 17 every year since 1974, the day when more than 6,000 Palestinian prisoners rallied in Israeli prisons and detention camps.
The international community blames Israel for the deadlock of the peace process with the Palestinians due to its settlement expansion policy on occupied Palestinian territories.
The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital city in the light of the UN-proposed two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders.
Israel is the regional number one ally of the United States, whose President Donald Trump has recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and expressed plans to move Washington's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the disputable holy city despite regional and international outcry.
