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Israeli authorities announced on Tuesday that they will allowÌýfamilies of Palestinian from the Gaza Strip to visit their relatives heldÌýin Israeli prisons,ÌýexcludingÌýthe families of members of and the Islamic Jihad movements.

In the early morning, the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip confirmed the announcement, adding that it has organised a visit ofÌýthe Gaza prisoners' families for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus more than two years ago.

Dozens of relatives of the prisoners packed into buses organised by the Red Cross and headedÌýtoÌýthe Nafha Desert Prison through the Israel-controlled Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip.

While waiting inÌýthe bus that will take her to see her son, Om Mohammed, from the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, expressed her deep longing to finally be able herÌýson after two years of "deprivation".

"No one can imagine the extent of our suffering while we are deprived of seeing our children or even communicating with them because of the measures taken by the Israeli prisons administration,"Ìýthe 65-year-old woman told °®Âþµº.Ìý

The Israeli army arrested her son 20 years ago on charges of killing an Israeli soldier in the Jabalia refugee camp. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by anÌýIsraeli court.Ìý

Naima, a sister of another Palestinian prisoner, said thatÌýshe was going to visit her brother instead of her mother who had passed away six months ago.

"My mother died before she saw my brother. She was constantly in pain because she was prevented from visiting him and calling him on the phone," NaimaÌýsaid toÌý°®Âþµº.

"I don't know what to say to him, and I don't know how to console him in this calamity," she added. "But I will always carry out my mother's will to visit him."

Usually, visits to theÌýprisonersÌýlastÌýonly 45 minutes, during which visitors are only able to communicateÌýwithÌýthem throughÌýa phone as they areÌýseparated by a glass window. Each prisoner is entitled to receive four visitors, who can also depositÌýa sum of money that the prisoner then can useÌýto purchase his needs.

Palestinian women in Israeli prisons win right to make phone calls, but family visits restricted

— Dr. Sherifa Zuhur (@SherifaZuhur)

Abdul Nasser Firwana, a senior official of the Commission of Detainees' Affairs, said to °®Âþµº that the resumption ofÌýthe visits to the prisonersÌýwas "a victory for human rights",Ìýbut he quickly addedÌýthat it willÌý"needÌýmore human rights and legal work to firmly establish this right and build on what was achieved byÌýthe struggle."

"About 220 prisoners from the Gaza Strip are held in Israeli prisons, of whom 27 are serving life sentences;Ìýthe oldest of which isÌýDiaa al-Agha, who has been detained for 30 years,"Ìýthe official noted.Ìý

However, the schedule of visits to the prisons will not include families of the prisoners who are members ofÌýthe Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements, which many see asÌýthe Israeli authorities'Ìýmeans toÌýpunishÌýprisoners of the two movements.

Sayeda Abd Rabbo, a mother of one of the prisoners who were excluded, says that she was shocked that her name was not included in theÌýlist of approved visits.

"I contacted several of theÌýprisoners' mothers and found that a number of them willÌýnot be able to visit their sons over theÌýclaimÌýthat our sons are members ofÌýHamas and Islamic Jihad,"Ìýthe 69-year-old elderly woman told °®Âþµº.Ìý

"Israel does all it can to humiliate us and our children, and violatesÌýinternational laws and all norms," she said.Ìý

She further calledÌýon the international community to hold Israel accountable for "its violations against the Palestinians, especially its prisoners."