In open letter, Hamas official asks Trump to meet with freed Palestinian prisoners

An open letter published by a senior Hamas official on Thursday is asking US President Donald Trump to meet with freed Palestinian prisoners from Israeli detention. 

Trump met with several former Israeli captives at the White House on Wednesday, and reportedly heard stories so enraging about their experience, that he then took to social media and threatened to kill all residents of Gaza if the remaining Israeli captives were not released. 

"Mr President: Why not consider meeting freed Palestinian prisoners as well?" Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, wrote. 

"Over 9,500 Palestinian prisoners are languishing in Israeli occupation prisons across 23 detention centers under dire conditions, characterised by the deprivation of basic rights, denial of family visits, and ongoing psychological and physical torture," Naim said. "Among these prisoners are approximately 5,000 who are ill and denied even the most basic healthcare services, 21 women, more than 365 children, and 726 individuals who have spent over 20 years of their lives in captivity."

Naim also points out that Israeli authorities are holding the remains of 665 deceased Palestinians, given Trump's insistence that Hamas is "sick and twisted" for holding onto the remains of dead Israeli captives. 

"This count does not include the remains of martyrs from Gaza since the beginning of the genocidal war, for which accurate information is lacking, though Hebrew sources indicate that over 1,500 bodies of Palestinian martyrs from Gaza are being held at the 'Sde Teiman' concentration camp in southern occupied Palestine," Naim wrote. 

"We invite President Trump to show the same level of respect to freed Palestinian political prisoners and allocate the time to meet and listen to their stories."