Despite Difficulties, Palestinian Prisoners Stand Firm on Day 24th of Dignity Strike
At least 1500 Palestinian prisoners enter on Wednesday their 24th day of open hunger strike, amid deterioration in their health situation.
Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs said on Wednesday that the Israeli Prison services had moved several hunger strikers in Ramla prison to a military hospital, Palestine Today reported.
The IPS also prevented the lawyer of Marwan Barghouti, the leader of the Palestinian hunger strikers, from meeting him, where he is place in solitary confinement in Jalma prison.
Earlier on Tuesday, the committee said that hunger strikers had entered a dangerous stage, reporting that health conditions were deteriorating considerably.
Prisoners have started to fall due to waves of dizziness, severe pains, and weight loss, according to the committee.
The Palestinian prisoners are calling for an end to the denial of family visits, the right to pursue higher education, appropriate medical care and treatment, and an end to solitary confinement and administrative detention — imprisonment without charge or trial — among other demands for basic rights.
However, hunger strikers were still standing firm despite the abuse, hunger, and pain, and were committed to compelling IPS to grant them their rights, Palestinian Maan news agency cited a letter smuggled out of a solitary confinement cell in Ashkelon prison by Palestinian journalist Muhammad al-Qiq.
The letter, published by the Gaza-based Asra Media Office, said that the determination of hunger-striking prisoners was “sky-high.”
Al-Qiq was famous for undertaking a grueling 94-day hunger strike in Israeli prison in 2016, and took on a second solitary hunger strike that came to a close in March after he reached a deal with the Zionist authorities.
