Jordanian prisoner held by Israel starts hunger strike

Jordanian prisoner Abdullah Al-Barghouti, 50, has started an open-ended hunger strike protesting against his solitary confinement in an Israeli prison, Quds Press reported on Sunday.

According to his brother Raif, Al-Barghouti and three others being held in Israel’s Rimon Prison have been placed in solitary confinement for allegedly smuggling a mobile phone. His family pointed out that he suffers from “several” health issues, and holds the Israeli prison authorities entirely responsible for any deterioration that takes place.

Quds Press reported that the National Committee for Jordanian Prisoners and Missing Persons in Israeli Jails as saying that it is following up Abdullah Al-Barghouti’s situation “closely” while he is in solitary confinement. “He is locked up in a cell which does not have the necessary facilities for human life,” it pointed out.

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The committee called on the Jordanian government to take up its responsibilities for Al-Barghouti — prisoner number 9721041489 — who is being subject to “torture and humiliation” by the Israeli prison authorities. He is serving a total of 67 life sentences.

The Israeli Prison Service has tightened the measures which it imposes on prisoners since last September when six Palestinians escaped from a high-security prison. They were all recaptured.

As of last month, there were 4,600 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, including 31 women and 172 children. Of these, 682 are held indefinitely with neither charge nor trial under so-called administrative detention, and 29 are in solitary confinement.