'Our people are hostages not prisoners', Palestine envoy tells BBC

'You call the Israeli side hostages and you call our side the Palestinians prisoners,' Palestine's Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot told BBC News Presenter Martine Croxall in an interview yesterday as 183 Palestinians were freed by Israel in exchange for three Israeli captives. 'When they are described as prisoners, it gives the impression that those are criminals who have been convicted in a court, which is not the case,' he continued, explaining that the majority of Palestinians in Israeli jails are held without charge or trial. During the conversation, Croxall appeared to justify Israel's mass detention of Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories. 'Isn't it understandable that they round people up when they feel threatened by those people?' she asked.