2 Palestinians held on administrative detention go on hunger strike

Two Palestinians being held in Israeli prison without charge or trial declared a hunger strike today.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said in a statement that Palestinian prisoners Jamal Abu Al-Leil and Raed Fayez Mteir declared their hunger strike in protest of being held under administrative detention.

PPS said that Abu Al-Leil and Mteir were initially detained on 14 Febuary 2016 and 17 February 2016 respectively. Israeli authorities have issued six month administrative detention orders for the two prisoners three times since their initial detentions last year.

Abu al-Leil is a former member of Fatah’s revolutionary council, according to PPS, while Mteir is head of the Qalandiya youth center in the central occupied West Bank. Both are from the Qalandiya refugee camp in northern Jerusalem and have been detained several times.

The prisoners have joined imprisoned journalist Mohamed Al-Qeq who has been on hunger strike for at least 10 days to protest his administrative detention.