Eight Palestinian detainees on hunger strike in Israeli jails, PPS says

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Eight Palestinian administrative detainees in Israeli occupation prisons have been on an open-ended hunger strike in protest against their unfair administrative detention by Israeli occupation, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS).

The PPS said eight Palestinian administrative detainees in Israeli prisons have been on open-ended hunger strike in protest against their unlawful indefinite detention without charge by Israeli occupation authorities.

The eight detainees are 8 Palestinian detainees on hunger strike in Israeli jails are Saif Al-Amarin, Sultan Khalouf, Kayed Fasfous, Osama Daqrouq, Mohamed Zakarneh, Anas Kmeil, Abdulrahman Baraqa, and Zuhdi Abido.

The hunger strike comes also in response to the rising rate of “administrative detention” orders implemented by the Israeli occupation in recent months against Palestinians.

The key demand of the detainees is bringing an end to the administrative detention policy and obliging Israeli occupation to respect its obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, the committee pointed out as it called on Palestinian masses and CSOs to further engage in pro-prisoner activities.

In October 2022, Palestinian administrative detainees went on a mass hunger strike demanding an end to Israel’s administrative detention policy, with dozens of detainees participating in the protest.

Last year, hundreds of Palestinian administrative detainees also boycotted Israeli court sessions for ten months, in protest against the administrative detention policy.

Since 2011, some 400 Palestinian detainees have launched individual hunger strikes, demanding their release. The longest-running strike was that of Palestinian detainee Khalil Awawdeh, which lasted 170 days.

In May, Palestinian detainee and prominent activist, Khader Adnan, died in an Israeli prison after 86 days of a hunger strike protesting his administrative detention for the 6th time since 2012.

There are currently over 1200 Palestinian administrative detainees held in Israeli occupation prisons, the highest number in over three decades, according to the PPS.

‘Israel’ routinely uses administrative detention and has, over the years, placed thousands of Palestinians behind bars for periods ranging from several months to several years, without charging them, without telling them what they are accused of, and without disclosing the alleged evidence to them or their lawyers.

Thus, the hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance that the prisoners use to protect their lives and their fundamental rights and a response to the occupation racist policies which they face in the prisons.