More Palestinian detainees have joined an indefinite hunger strike demanding their immediate release from Israel’s unlawful and arbitrary administrative detention, the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said in a statement on Sunday, August 13, Wafa news agency reported.
According to the PPS, the total number of Palestinians on indefinite hunger strikes in different jails in Israel has increased to 13 from the original six reported earlier on Friday.
The PPS underlined that four detainees, Seif Hamdan, Saleh Rabaya, Qusai Khader, and Osama Ikhlil, have been on indefinite hunger strike for more than 14 days. Two others, Kayed al-Fasfous and Sultan Khlouf, have completed 10 days.
According to the Samidoun Palestinian prisoners solidarity network, two Palestinian detainees, Osama Darkouk and Yazan Hanalsa, have been on hunger strike for more than seven days while six other detainees — Hadi Nazzal, Mohammad Taysir Zakarneh, Anas Kmail, Abdelrahman Baraka, Mohammad Basem Ikhmis, and Zuhdi Abdo — joined the hunger strike on Saturday, taking the total number of detainees on strike to 14.
The PLO commission for detainees and ex-detainees affairs asked the international community to break its silence on the matter of Israeli authorities using the administrative detention policy to illegally keep hundreds of Palestinians in prison without charge or trial for years.
“The immoral and inhuman abuses associated with the use of this policy by the occupying power violates all principles of international law and humanity, and are in real contradiction with the theorists of democracy and those claiming to be democratic in all of the world, especially America and Europe,” the statement declared.
It also noted that Israeli prison authorities are building psychological pressure on the striking prisoners by confiscating their clothes and other personal belongings. This has led to the strikers boycotting regular medical checkups.
Record number of Palestinians under administrative detention
Despite repeated statements from international human rights agencies about its illegality, administrative detention is used by Israel to imprison Palestinians for indefinite periods without any charge or trial.
According to Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, there are at least 1,200 administrative detainees in Israeli jails currently, the highest number in the last two decades. Some of these detainees have been in prison for more than two years.
Palestinian detainees have launched similar hunger strikes, individually and in groups, against their illegal detention in the past as well. Some of the strikers have died while on strike, such as Khader Adnan who died in May after 87 days on hunger strike due to medical negligence.
Meanwhile, Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s al-Naqab prison declared a state of emergency in all sections of the prison on Sunday citing inhumane jail conditions. They claim that the prison is subject to increased number of inspections, oppressive practices by the authorities, and targeted transfers.
The move was made following a raid by the jail authorities in one of the sections of the prison which led to it shutting down for hours and the transfer of over 60 Palestinian detainees. Israeli prison authorities took prisoner Munther Khalef to an unknown location. Khalef is a member of the Central Committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a leftist group which is also a part of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Al-Mayadeen reported.
Al-Naqab is one of the largest Israeli prisons with Palestinian prisoners. According to Al-Mayadeen, there are more than 1,400 Palestinians imprisoned at al-Naqab.
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