Israel threatens Palestinian inmates

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he intends to make conditions tougher for Palestinian prisoners.

"I have decided to change Israel's treatment of terrorists sitting in prison," Netanyahu said in a speech at an international conference on Thursday.

"We will give them all that they deserve according to international law but nothing beyond that," he added.

The Israeli premier also said Tel Aviv is taking a series of steps to change prisoners' conditions.

Some 11,000 Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli jails. Many of them are held without charges, leaving several families with no breadwinner.

The prisoners held in Israeli detention camps are continuously subject to lengthy solitary confinements, sudden night raids and torture.

The Israeli prison administration is accused of using the policy of humiliation, pressure and punishment under the guise of security in its jails. It also deprives Palestinian political detainees of the simple right of bathing, access to clean clothes and family visits.