Talks between Israeli officials and prisoners fail

The three rounds of talks held between the leaders of the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike and the Israeli Prison Service have all failed, the Palestinian Al-Resalah quoted the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club saying yesterday.

The leadership of the hunger strike told the club’s lawyer Jawad Bolus that the three rounds of talks failed because the Israeli Prison Service refused to meet the demands of the hunger strikers; which are to end the internationally-banned administrative detentions.

Bolus reported the hunger strikers said that the Israeli Prison Service informed them about the anger of the Israeli government over their hunger strike. He said that the Israeli government is ready to open a special hospital for the prisoners with grave health conditions if the strike did not stop.

In a press statement released yesterday the prisoners said: “The Israeli government does not care about our death.” They called for more official and popular support for their cause.

According to the statement, the Israeli Prison Service held disciplinary trials in absentia for prisoners to put pressure on them.

More than 250 Palestinian prisoners have been on hunger strike since April 24 in protest against administrative detention, which see them being held in custody without charges or trials for an unlimited time.