Palestinian prisoners to go on mass hunger strike in protest at Israel's repressive policies
Thousands of Palestinian prisoners are to stage a one-day hunger strike in protest at Israel's repressive policies and to demand the immediate release of a sick Palestinian inmate.
The Supreme Emergency Committee for the Palestinian Prisoner Movement said in a Sunday statement that the hunger strike will be staged on Monday.
According to the official Palestinian Wafa news agency, one of the main goals of the strike is to pile pressure on the Israeli authorities to release the long-time Palestinian inmate, Walid Daqqa.
Daqqa, a writer and activist, has been imprisoned by Israel since 1986 for his resistance against the occupying regime. Last year, he was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, which is a rare form of bone marrow cancer that disrupts the body’s normal production of blood cells.
In February, Daqqa suffered a stroke that was caused by a blood clot and was transferred to hospital due to his relapsing health condition. He is one of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.
The hunger strike also seeks to protest Israel's policies of solitary confinement and administrative detention. Administrative detention is an inhumane policy used by the occupying regime, which allows it to keep Palestinians in prison for indefinite periods of time without any charges or trial.
The committee added that the protest step is also aimed at demanding the end of the solitary confinement of three leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Last month, a report by a group of Palestinian rights advocacy groups revealed that Israel is keeping about 4,900 Palestinians inmates, including many women and children, behind bars.
The report, which was released on the occasion of the Palestinian Prisoner's Day, said the figure included 31 Palestinian women and 160 children under the age of 18.
It noted that Israeli authorities are developing their methods of abuse against Palestinian prisoners in order to undermine their resolve to struggle for their rights.
Israeli jail authorities keep Palestinian prisoners under deplorable conditions without proper hygienic standards, and they have also been subject to systematic torture, harassment, and repression.
Italian court rules al-Quds cannot be Israel’s ‘capital’
Starbucks closes 50 stores in Malaysia amid anti-Israel boycott drive
Israeli arms firm loses its ‘biggest contract’ as UK revokes contract
VIDEO | Hezbollah rains attack drones down on elite Israeli brigade
Leader: All captains of criminal, Zionist, terrorist gang must be prosecuted
Iran further raises its oil prices for Chinese buyers: Report
Iran to launch major pressure-boosting projects in South Pars
VIDEO | Escalation amid ceasefire talks
EU's Borrell says ICC arrest warrants for Israeli leaders binding
VIDEO | Press TV's News Headlines
VIDEO | Massacre in Pakistan’s Parachinar sparks outrage
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
