U.S. Protests Over 3 Arrestees
The United States has protested to Israel over the treatment of three Palestinian-Americans jailed on suspicion of having ties with the radical Muslim movement Hamas, a U.S. official said Sunday.
Carl Chan, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, said U.S. diplomats “protested against the delay in consular access and the condition of treatment.”
He said the protests had been made “verbally and in writing” but declined to elaborate further.
Israeli officials say Mohammed Jarad, 36, and Mohammed Salah, 39, both from the Chicago area, signed confessions before being given access to lawyers or U.S. consular officials.
Salah and Jarad were arrested Jan. 25 while visiting relatives in the occupied West Bank.
At a hearing last Tuesday, a military judge extended their detention by two weeks, but they have yet to be charged with any crime.
A third Palestinian-American, Mohammed Haja, was arrested at about the same time on suspicion of transferring firearms to the Hamas movement. He has been ordered held through this week for further questioning but also has not been charged.
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