Senior Fatah official accuses PA of neglecting prisoners

Senior Fatah official Fadwa Barghouti has accused the Palestinian Authority of neglecting the cause of the Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel, Quds Press has reported.

The wife of hunger-striker Marwan Barghouti is a member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council. Speaking to Quds Press yesterday, she praised the popular support for the prisoners who have been on hunger strike since 17 April, and called for increased pressure on Israel to negotiate with them over their “reasonable” demands.

She pointed out that she has no information about her husband’s health due to a media blackout and the Israeli prison authorities’ frequent transfer of the prisoners. However, Barghouti did explain that the authorities continue to isolate her husband in solitary confinement, and that he has been able to have just one visit from his lawyer, nine days ago.

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The Fatah official said that the Israelis continue with their intransigence, refusing to negotiate while pressing for a suspension of the protest.

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More than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners began an open-ended hunger strike last month demanding humane treatment in the prison and, among other issues, an end to administrative detention, under which hundreds are held indefinitely with neither charge nor trial.