The prisoners went on hunger strike last week over their detention without trial and prison conditions.
By Amira Hass | Jun.29, 2012
Five Palestinians who have served over two years in the Palestinian Authority prison have gone on hunger strike over the past week in protest over their continuing detention without trial, despite a Palestinian High Court decision that they should be released.
They – and one another prisoner who was sentenced to three years – are also protesting over conditions in the prison.
Othman Qawasami, Muhammad Abu Hadid, Moatsem An-Natsha and Muhammad Al-Atrash started the hunger strike on June 20, with no deadline set for the end of the strike. The four were arrested in September 2010, during a wave of arrests that Palestinian security forces carried out in Hebron and Ramallah. At first, they were held in Jericho, before being transfered to the detention facility of the Palestinian intelligence services in Bethlehem. They were accused of harming national unity, and the Palestinian High Court ordered that they, and others who had been arrested earlier on similar charges, should be released from detention.
Two other prisoners also joined the hunger strike on June 22 – Anas Abu Markhiyya from Hebron who has been detained since December 2011, and Islam Al-Aruri, from Ramallah, who was sentenced to three years in prison in October 2010.
The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said that they were worried over the conditions of the prisoners, and called on the Palestinian Authority to respect the High Court decision and release the prisoners. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights refers to them as political prisoners.
Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons are also on hunger strike over conditions, and in order to demand and end to detention without trial.
According to prison officials, at least 1,600 of the 4,600 Palestinians held by Israel are refusing food. Palestinians say about 2,500 strikers are striking.
Israel is hesitant to clinch a deal with the prisoners, fearing it will encourage more strikes. Many of the Palestinians striking have been convicted of involvement in deadly attacks.
