Gaza: A family's first prison visit
Channel: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Date: 2013-06-25

In May Fatma Abu Khatlah took her two sons to see their father in an Israeli prison. For little Mohanned it was the first time he would see his father, who has been in detention since 2008, on an 9-1/2 year sentence.
The family visit programme that the ICRC has been running for Palestinian detainees since 1967, was suspended for Gazans in 2007 and resumed in July 2012. At first only spouses and parents could visit, but in May 2013 children under the age of 8 were given permission to visit their fathers.
Family visits are an emotional lifeline for those behind bars. In 2012 the ICRC arranged for over 110,000 family members from the occupied territories to visit detainees held in Israeli facilities.