Qaraqi’ said the IPS canceled family visits for Palestinians in several Israeli jails for one to two months, claiming that they resisted its orders.

The minister added that the Israeli internal intelligence agency Shin Bet has been using psychological and physical torture such as forcing prisoners to sit in a tiny chair with hands and feet tied or forcing them to stand up in a closet, depriving them of sleep and using violent shaking.

Qaraqi’ said Shin Bet interrogates the prisoners under the threat of murder, assassination, home demolition, rape or the arrest of wife. Other means of torture are covering the head with a dirty sack, placing the prisoner inside a refrigerator and in solitary confinement, he revealed.

The minister said the Israeli policies for Palestinian prisoners are “a blatant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention,” which prohibits signatories from committing grave breaches against civilians in occupied territories, and the Israeli law, which prohibits cancellation of the visits. Qaraqi’ said that the right to receive family in prison is a fundamental right both of prisoners and of their family members, and is also part of the Israeli and international law.

According to the Palestinian government, nearly 200 Palestinian prisoners have so far died in Israeli confinement either under torture or due to medical negligence.

Since December 2009, Egypt, Germany and France have failed to pull off a prisoners’ swap deal for the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The failure is due to differences between Hamas and Israel.