Lives of Palestinian hunger striking detainees in danger, rights group warns

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club warned that the lives of seven Palestinian prisoners who have been on hunger strike for over two months is in danger as the Israeli authorities refuse to respond to their demands and end their detention.

“Seven prisoners continue their hunger strike against their administrative detention, the oldest of them are the two prisoners Kayed Al Fasfous and Miqdad Al Qawasmeh who are continuing the hunger strike for more than two months and facing  health conditions that are becoming more serious day by day,” the group said in a statement.

According to the statement, prisoner AlaaAl-Araj has been on a hunger strike for 51 days,  Hisham Abu Hawash for 43 days, Rayeq Bsharat for 38 days, Shady Abu Eker for 35 days, and Hasan Shokeh for around nine days.

The organisation said the Israeli occupation refuses to respond to the demand that their administrative detention – imprisonment without charge or trial – be brought to an end, and their health is deteriorating as a result.

Book launch: A Shared Struggle: Stories of Palestinian and Irish hunger strikers

It called on international human rights institutions, especially the United Nations, to “put an end to the crime of administrative detention, which the [Israeli] occupation continues to practice against [Palestinian] prisoners.”

The policy of administrative detention allows Israeli authorities to hold prisoners without charge or trial for renewable periods of six months.

There are currently some 4,500 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, 41 of whom are women, 160 children and 360 administrative detainees, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.

READ: Israel sends Gilboa prison escapees to different jails