Freed Palestinian prisoners intensify protest to get salaries back

A group of freed Palestinian prisoners yesterday threatened to escalate protests aimed at putting pressure on Palestinian Authority (PA) to continue their salary payments, Quds Press reported.

The Palestinians, who served long terms in Israeli jails, warned they would stop drinking water today if the PA continued ignoring their calls.

Freed prisoners spokesman, Abdel-Hadi Abu-Khalaf, denied that any official had contacted the strikers. He added that the Israeli occupation “could not break the will of these people when they were prisoners in jails”, so the PA should not bet on breaking their will now.

All they ask for, Abu-Khalaf added, is for their salaries to paid in accordance with Palestinian law.

The PLO’s Commission for Prisoners and Freed Prisoners blamed internal Palestinian division for the halt in salary payments. The organisation’s spokesperson, Hassan Abd-Rabbu, confirmed the move was “unacceptable” but said there were security concerns which must be dealt with before the any action could be taken.

Read: Prisoners start hunger strike to protest against PA cuts to their salaries