Israel braces for Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike

Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan ordered on Sunday that the Palestinian prisoners who are planning to join Monday’s hunger strike be gathered in the Negev’s Ktzi’ot  prison, according to Israeli radio’s Channel 2.

The Israeli authorities will also set up a field hospital outside of the prison and equip it with necessary medical supplies to prepare for the massive hunger strike scheduled to be held by prisoners on 18 April, which coincides with Prisoner’s Day.

#MassHungerStrike

More than 1500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are expected to go on hunger strike in protest to administrative detention and solitary confinement, and to demand improved living conditions inside prisons. The strike is led by the prominent Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who has been in prison since 2002.

The channel said that Erdan’s decision “came to pre-empt the hunger strike and send a message to its leaders that their objective, which is wreaking havoc on hospitals, will not materialize from now on, and the strikers will be treated in a field hospital at the Ktzi’ot prison.”

Erdan stressed that the ministry “will not give in to any demands that may be made in the context of the hunger strike,” according to the Israeli radio station.