Sick prisoners inside Israeli jails join hunger strike

Sick Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jail started joining a mass hunger strike yesterday that was announced on 17 April demanding for improved imprisonment conditions, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club (PPC) announced.

In a statement reported by Moheet, the PPC said that sick prisoners did not accept meals on Wednesday, stressing their participation in the hunger strike.

The PPC’s lawyer Hiba Masalha, who visited the Palestinian prisoners in Ha’Sharon Prison, where 58 female prisoners are being held, confirmed that they had decided to join the hunger strike.

Read: Israel sets up hospital in prison ahead of prisoners’ hunger strike

Meanwhile, Karim Ajwa, a lawyer with the PLO’s Prisoners’ Committee confirmed that many sick prisoners had joined the hunger strike, including some suffering serious conditions.

“Their continuous suffering and premeditated medical negligence pushed the sick prisoners to join the hunger strike,” the lawyer said, stressing that “hunger strike cause much deterioration to the already deteriorate health conditions of the patient prisoners.”

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Ajwa, who visit the Palestinian prisoners at Ashkelon Prison, said that the Israeli prison services confiscated all the belongings of the prisoners. He said that prisoners are exposed to strip search and continuous movement from one room or department to another.

Sick prisoners warned that they would stop taking medicines if the Israeli prison services sought to force feed them, insisting that they would continue their strike until the fulfilment of their demands.

Israel braces for Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike

Hunger striking palestinian [Carlos Latuff/Wikipedia]