Gaza families visit relatives jailed in Israel
June 8, 2015 12:57 P.M. (Updated: June 8, 2015 1:00 P.M.)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=765830

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Forty-eight Palestinians from the Gaza Strip crossed
into Israel Monday morning via the Erez crossing to visit relatives jailed
in Israel’s Eshel prison.

The International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City said in a
statement that they are expected to visit 36 prisoners, adding that there
were no children among the visitors.

The ICRC "Family Visits Program" for Gazans was suspended by Israeli
authorities in June 2007 when Hamas came to power in the coastal enclave.

All communication between Gazan prisoners and the outside world was
effectively cut off, prisoners' rights group Addameer reported, and during a
Palestinian prisoners' hunger strike in April 2012, one of the prisoners'
key demands was that the program be reinstated.

Israel agreed to resume the visits on the conclusion of the hunger strike,
although Addameer has reported that many Gaza prisoners have not been
allowed to receive visitors.

There were 375 Gazans in Israeli jails as of April 1, 2015, according to
Addameer.