Palestinian protesters voice solidarity with hunger striking inmates

People gathered in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Saturday to show their support for some 1,500 incarcerated Palestinians, who have been on hunger strike for 13 days.

Tents were also erected throughout the occupied Palestinian territories for people to show their support for hunger striking prisoners.

During the Bethlehem protest, the head of the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs, Issa Qaraqe, stressed that solidarity activities would continue for the prisoners, who have entered a dangerous stage in their hunger strike.

Elsewhere, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah visited a protest tent in the West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron) where he called on world powers to pressure the Tel Aviv regime into responding positively to the hunger strikers’ demands.

“The United Nations should not remain silent about Israeli violations against prisoners and Palestinian people,” he said.

Meanwhile, some 100 more Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel’s Megiddo prison have joined the hunger strike.

A lawyer for Palestinian Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs, Loay Akkeh, said that Israel Prison Service was continuing its crackdown on the hunger striking prisoners.

He noted that punitive measures were being enforced to “break the will” of the prisoners and make them halt their strike.

On Friday, dozens of people were injured when clashes broke out between Palestinians demonstrating in solidarity with the prisoners and Israeli military forces across the occupied West Bank.

Since April 17, over 1,500 Palestinian prisoners have gone on a mass hunger strike in protest at the conditions of Israeli prisons initially called for by former Fatah leader, Marwan Barghouti.

Palestinian inmates regularly stage hunger strikes in protest at Israel’s administrative detention policy and their harsh prison conditions.