50 Palestinian prisoners join hunger strike

Some 50 Palestinian prisoners from different Palestinian factions joined around 1,600 other prisoners who started an open-ended hunger strike on 17 April, Palestinian website Felesteen reported yesterday.

In a press conference, the director of the Prisoners Media Centre, Abdel-Rahman Shadid, said: “In light of the escalating hunger strike inside Israeli jails, and in light of the continuous Israeli restrictions on the hunger strikers, a number of prisoners’ leaders are going to join the strike.”

Read: Palestinian prisoners are on hunger strike for fundamental human rights

He mentioned some of the prominent names such as Nael Al-Barghouti, Ahmed Saadat, Hassan Salameh, Abbas Al-Sayyid, Ahed Abu Ghalameh and Zaid Bseesi.
Yesterday evening, the Israeli Supreme Court allowed lawyers for the hunger strikers to visit them inside jail.

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Israeli television Channel 10 said that the Supreme Court took this decision after an appeal filed by the Israeli rights group Adalah, which requested permission for lawyers to visit their clients.

Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’ military wing the Al-Qassam Brigades, warned on Tuesday evening that Israel had to respond to the demands of the hunger strikers or else Hamas would add 30 more prisoners every day to the list of the prisoners it is demanding to be released in a potential prisoner swap deal with Israel.

Photo Story: Jerusalem shuts down in solidarity with Palestinian hunger strikers

A closed shop in Jerusalem after a general strike was to show solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails in Jerusalem on April 27, 2017. ( Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency )