Around 400 Islamic Jihad Prisoners in Israeli Jails Start Hunger Strike

Published October 12th, 2021 - 10:58 GMT
Islamic Jihad detainees in Israel plan to stage an open-ended hunger strike
Ghazanfar Abu Atwan, a Palestinian man who was released from Israeli detention today, waves from his bed at a hospital near the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on July 9, 2021.
Highlights
Around 400 Islamic Jihad prisoners will start hunger strike on Wednesday

Islamic Jihad detainees in Israel plan to stage an open-ended hunger strike to show disagreement with Israeli punitive measures against them following last month’s jailbreak.

In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoner Society, an NGO, said the 400 prisoners will start their hunger strike as of Wednesday.

The strike “is part of the struggle and rebellion against Israeli prison regulations,” the NGO said.

A letter will be sent to the prison authority on Tuesday of the prisoners’ demands, the statement said.


Israeli prison authorities have imposed punitive measures against Islamic Jihad prisoners after six detainees tunneled out of the high-security Gilboa prison in northern Israel last month.

Five of the escaped detainees were from the Islamic Jihad group.

The six prisoners were rearrested by Israeli forces almost one week after their escape.

There are around 4,850 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, including 40 women, 225 children and 40 administrative detainees, according to institutions concerned with prisoners’ affairs.

This article has been adapted from its original source.

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