11 political detainees in PA prisons stage hunger strike

Palestinians hold up pictures of relatives who were arrested and imprisoned by Palestinian Authority security forces, during a protest in the West Bank city of Hebron, on 9 June 2011 [Najeh Hashlamoun/ ApaImages]

Eleven young men from the village of Urif have entered a hunger strike in the Palestinian Authority (PA) prisons after being detained for weeks.

The families of the detainees explained that their relatives have been held in poor conditions, are being ill-treated and beaten since their arrest, adding that the authorities are pressuring them to deny that they have been tortured.

The political arrests in Urif occurred at the start of the Sword of Jerusalem battle, during which the resistance in Gaza fought the occupation in defence of Jerusalem, as the town went out to demonstrate in support of Al-Qassam Brigades, according to local news websites.

Freed prisoner Yassin Shehadeh was detained in Jericho Prison with 20 other young men from the town since the beginning of the confrontations with the Israeli forces.

Shehadeh is now unable to defecate and lost 20 kilograms after being subjected to torture.

A court affiliated with the PA in Nablus extended the detention of the released prisoner Muhammad Al-Koni by four days despite his poor health, which requires urgent surgery, reported the Palestinian Information Centre (PIC).

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