Gaza protests in support of Palestinians hurt in Israel prison crackdown

Palestinians come together to protest after Israeli forces stormed into Ofer prison and beat prisoners in Ramallah on 23 January 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Palestinians come together to protest after Israeli forces stormed into Ofer prison and beat prisoners in Ramallah on 23 January 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Art work used by Palestinians during a protest after Israeli forces stormed into Ofer prison and beat prisoners in Ramallah on 23 January 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Palestinians come together to protest after Israeli forces stormed into Ofer prison and beat prisoners in Ramallah on 23 January 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Palestinians come together to protest after Israeli forces stormed into Ofer prison and beat prisoners in Ramallah on 23 January 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Palestinians come together to protest after Israeli forces stormed into Ofer prison and beat prisoners in Ramallah on 23 January 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Prisoners’ Committee of Islamic and National Factions in the Gaza Strip declared a “state of emergency” to support detainees being held in Israeli jails in the occupied West Bank.

This came during an angry protest organised by the organisation’s member in front of the headquarters of the Red Cross in Gaza yesterday in response to Israeli forces storming Ofer prison in occupied Ramallah on Monday and beat prisoners.

Hamas spokesperson Mushir Al-Masri said: “Today we stand in anger towards the crimes of the enemy against our brave prisoners.”

“When the enemy storms its prisons, cells and department with his heavily armed troops, and injures more than 100 prisoners in Ofer prison in Ramallah, it is bullying and terrorism by an organised state,” Al-Masri continued. “It is a declaration of war against our prisoners and our people.”

More than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s Ofer Prison yesterday launched an open-ended hunger strike, in protest against the occupation’s continuous violations against them, Shehab News Agency reported.

The move came in response to the violent Israeli crackdown on prisoners in Ofer which saw six prisoners suffer fractures, 40 with head wounds and others suffered injuries as a result of the use of rubber bullets and tear gas.

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