Gaza women rally for release of prisoners

Scores of Palestinian women staged a rally in the Gaza Strip on Monday to demand the release of their relatives held in Israeli prisons.

Protesters waved banners calling for the release of hundreds of Palestinians arrested by Israeli forces.

"Prisoners suffer inhumane treatment and medical negligence in Israeli prisons," Ahmad al-Mudalla, a member of Islamic Jihad group, told the protesters, who gathered outside the office of the Red Cross in the Gaza City.

"All these crimes are taking place in front of the world, which does nothing to save the prisoners," he said.

Al-Mudallal called on world countries to pile pressure on Israel to stop the policy of "solitary confinement" against Palestinian detainees.

According to Palestinian figures, some 6,000 Palestinians continue to languish in Israeli detention facilities, including scores of women and hundreds of minors.