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IOA holds MP Qufaisha in administrative custody

Hamas MPs in the West Bank denounced the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) for holding their colleague MP Hatem Qufaisha, from Al-Khalil, in administrative detention for six months.

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  Hamas MPs in the West Bank denounced the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) for holding their colleague MP Hatem Qufaisha, from Al-Khalil, in administrative detention for six months.

The Israeli military court in Ofer passed the sentence, which the Hamas lawmakers described as an evidence of the IOA inability to find a real reason or charge against the MP.

They issued a statement on Monday calling for an urgent international intervention to stop such arbitrary rulings against Palestinian detainees, especially when such verdicts are routinely renewed for many years without the detainees knowing the reason for their incarceration.

They said that remaining tight-lipped vis-à-vis such "criminal sentences" is a bigger crime than the verdicts themselves, lashing out at the world community and human rights groups for not budging to counter such practice, which they described as a violation of the international laws and norms.

The IOA had kidnapped Qufaisha, 49, from his home on 18 October and held him in Ofer detention center in Ramallah where the military court on Monday night decided to hold him in administrative detention.

Qufaisha, the father of six children, was held on many past occasions in IOA jails including three times after his election as member of the Palestinian legislative council in 2006.

He spent more than 110 months in IOA captivity since the mid eighties of the past century over separate intervals. He obtained the doctorate degree during his last detention at the Negev prison.