ICRC Warns Against “Health Consequences” of Palestinian Hunger Strikers

Five ICRC delegates arrive in Ramon, a detention centre in southern Israel. They are received by the Israeli Prison Services (IPS) staff.

Geneva, 29 Sha’ban 1438/26 May 2017 (MINA) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Thursday warned against “irreversible health consequences” of Palestinians on hunger strike in the Israeli prisons, KUNA reported.

The ICRC urged, in a statement, all parties and competent authorities to find a solution that would avoid any loss of life or irreversible damage to health of detainees who have been on hunger strike for 39 days.

“ICRC doctors have been visiting all the detainees on hunger strike and closely monitoring their situation,” head of ICRC’s health department in Israel and the occupied territories Dr. Gabriel Salazar was quoted by the statement as saying.

He added “six weeks into the hunger strike, we are concerned about potentially irreversible health consequences. From a medical perspective, we are entering a critical phase.” Being a neutral humanitarian institution, the WCRC stressed that it neither supports nor advocates against a hunger strike.

But, it said it works to ensure that the detainees’ dignity and physical integrity are respected at all times, it said.

Out of that spirit, the ICRC has increased the numbers of its staff visiting Palestinian hunger strikers, including doctors, and stepped up its confidential dialogue with the detaining authorities, the statement pointed out.

It said the ICRC is in regular contact with the relatives of prisoners on hunger strike and is a direct witness of their anxiety, which continues to mount in the absence of family visits. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)