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PLO: Situation in Israel prisons deteriorating

August 8, 2019 at 11:41 am

Prisoners can be seen through barbed wires from an Israeli prison, 9 November 2018 [JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images]

Head of the PLO’s Prisoners Commission Qadri Abu Bakr said yesterday that the situation inside Israeli prisons is deteriorating rapidly due to the punishing measures being carried out by the Israeli Special Forces, Anadolu Agency reported.

Speaking to the Turkish news site, Abu Bakr said that six prisoners have been on hunger strike in protest against their continued administrative detention. About 40 other prisoners have also launched a hunger strike in support of them.

Six prisoners joined the hunger strike on Tuesday in protest against the punishing measures carried out by the Israeli Special Forces in Ofer Prison, west of Ramallah.

The Safa news agency reported that a meeting held between the Israeli Prison Service and representatives of the prisoners in Ofer Prison failed because the occupation authorities refused to lift the sanctions imposed on the prisoners.

READ: Why Palestinian prisoners choose hunger strike as a resistance strategy

Abu Bakr did not rule seeing new prisoners join the hunger strike.

On Monday, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said that the Israeli occupation forces broke into Ofer Prison and isolated the prisoners who were on hunger strike.

At the start of 2019, more than 100 Palestinian prisoners were wounded due to harsh measures carried out against them by the Israeli occupation forces.

There are about 5,700 Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, including 1,200 in Ofer Prison.

READ: Palestinian children’s right to education denied in Israel prisons