Local Editor
Some 35 Palestinian inmates have been refusing to eat since December 8, while 70 others have been on hunger strike since December 10 to protest Tel Aviv’s indifference regarding their legitimate demands.
The detainees on hunger strike are the ones that have been held in solitary confinement for years under inhumane circumstances in Eshil, Negev, Nafha, Majeddo, Asqalan, Ramla and Ramon prisons.
The protesters demand the release of ailing inmates. They say their strike is also in solidarity with Nahar al-Saadi, who has been refusing to eat since November 20 to protest his solitary confinement since May last year.
Foaad Khafsh, director of the Ahrar Center for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights, said the inmates’ demands are fair and legitimate.
Reports say more than 7,000 Palestinians are being held in Israeli jails, many of them without charge or trial. The Israeli Prison Service has come under criticism from human rights groups for rampant rights abuses in jails.
Back in June, tens of Palestinian prisoners, who had been on a hunger strike in protest against Israel’s so-called administrative detention, were hospitalized over health problems.
Administrative detention is a sort of imprisonment without trial or charge that allows Israel to incarcerate Palestinians for up to six months.
Source: abna.ir
