According to CNN, over a thousand Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli detention began a hunger strike to protest the treatment of prisoners on Tuesday.
Fifteen hundred prisoners decided to join the strike to protest Israel’s policy of administrative detention, the solitary confinement of prisoners for months at a time and the arbitrary fines imposed on prisoners, said Palestinian Prisoner’s Association Club spokeswoman Amani Sarahna. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Association Club is an inmate advocacy group.
Administrative detention has no requirement to charge people under this practice and allows Israeli authorities to detain people indefinitely, according to the article. “Of the roughly 4,700 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, approximately 300 are in administrative detention,” according to the article.
The hunger strike began as Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza gathered at various events to observe the annual Prisoner’s Day, which marks solidarity for the thousands of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, according to the article.
Prior to this mass hunger strike, there were 10 prisoners already conducting their own strike lasting various durations, Sarahna said. Those prisoners who were already striking are suffering from health issues, according to a press release released by the club.
Omar Abu Shallal, a prisoner in Israeli detention, has been on a hunger strike for 44 days. He is suffering from “total faintness and is having difficulty sleeping in additions to headaches and back pains,” the release said.
Also, Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahla are on the 50th day of their hunger strike, the release said. CNN was not able to independently verify these accounts.
