Israel sets up hospital in prison ahead of prisoners' hunger strike

The Israeli authorities will establish a field hospital in the Negev prison ahead of the Fatah prisoners’ hunger strike scheduled for 17 April.

Chairman of the High Committee on Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs, Amin Shoman, said the Israeli authorities’ decision to establish a field hospital in the Negev prison is an indication of a plan to ignore the prisoners’ demands.

The Palestinian official said in an interview with Quds Press today that the decision is a challenge to the prisoners’ participating in the strike, which will start on 17 April.

Shoman said the Israeli administration is setting up a field hospital to treat the strikers instead of negotiating with them.

Fatah prisoners led by the movement’s Central Committee member, Marwan Barghouthi, are protesting against the conditions of their detention.

Human rights sources estimate that there are about 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons including 49 female prisoners of whom 13 are minors. Some 350 children are held in Israeli prisons.