Israel cancels families visits for hunger striking prisoners

Israeli occupation authorities yesterday cancelled the family visits of Palestinian prisoners being held in the Israeli jails of Hadrim, Rimon and Maggedo.

The prisoners, whose families were prevented from visiting them, are the hunger strikers who were isolated in three different prisons. Thirty prisoners are continuing their open-ended hunger strike for the tenth day in protest against their administrative detention; being held without charge or trial.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club (PPC), the Israeli occupation authorities prevented the family visits as a punitive measure against the prisoners.

The PPC said that the Israeli Prison Services (IPS) isolated 28 hunger strikers in four cells of Ofer Prison, one in a cell in Hadarim and one in Al-Naqab (Negev).

“If the IPS took additional punitive measures and turned more prisoners to administrative detention,” the PPC, “more prisoners would join the hunger strike.”

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At the same time, the PPC said that the isolated hunger strikers were stripped of their belongings in addition to being prevented from family visits.

The PPC called for intensifying popular support for the hunger strikers who are protesting against the systematic and illegal administrative detention.

There are currently 780 Palestinian poisoners under administrative detention, including six minors and two women. The PPC said that this is the highest number since 2015.

Since the start of 2022, the Israeli occupation has issued 1,365 administrative detention orders. August witnessed the highest number of orders with 272 issued.

The PPC said that the Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails have carried out more than 400 collective or individual hunger strikes, most of which protested against administrative detention.

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