Mass Hunger Strike in Israeli Jails Continues for Fifth Day Running

Ramallah, MINA – Scores of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have entered day 5 of the open-ended hunger strike, which was dubbed “al-Karama (dignity) 2.”

More prisoners joined the hunger strike on Wednesday (10/4), raising the number of hunger strikers to over 400.

According to the Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs, the Israeli prison service started yesterday to transfer hunger strikers from the prisons of Negev and Ramon to isolation cells and other jails, PIC reported.

Other prisoners are expected to participate in the hunger strike today and a large number of them will join on April 17. Top leaders of the prisoners last Monday announced the failure of their talks with Israeli jailers after their demands were rejected, especially with regard to using phones.

The hunger strikers have four main demands. The first one is to allow the prisoners to communicate with their families through providing their jails with telephone services, which are available in prisons where Israeli criminals and killers are held.

Secondly, the hunger strikers demand the Israeli prison service to remove the cellphone jammers inside jails, which constitute health hazards.

They also demand the jailers to allow all prisoners, including those from Hamas in Gaza, to receive visits from their families, and to allow all families in the West Bank to see their relatives twice a month. Their fourth demand call for revoking all the new and old punitive measures against the Palestinian prisoners.(R/R04/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)