NGO: Health of Palestinian Hunger Striker Barghouti Deteriorating

Local Editor

After joining a hunger strike with more than 1,000 other prisoners in "Israeli" jails, an NGO said Monday that the health of Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti had declined seriously over the past week.

Barghouti, 57 and serving five life sentences over his role in the second Palestinian intifada, is refusing medical treatment, according to Amani Sarahneh of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club NGO.

He told AFP this was causing his health to decline seriously.

The hunger strike began on April 17, with those taking part ingesting only water and salt. They have issued demands ranging from better medical care to phone access.

Asked about Barghouti, however, an "Israeli" Prisons Service spokesman claimed that "no decline in his health condition has been observed."

"If Barghouti feels bad, all he has to do is eat," the spokesman added.

According to the NGO, authorities at the Jalame prison, where Barghouti was transferred and placed in solitary confinement after the strike began, have pressured him to accept medical treatment, and have also urged other prisoners to try to convince him.

Some 6,500 Palestinians are currently detained by the "Israeli" entity for a range of offences and alleged crimes.

Around 500 are being held under the entity's so-called system of "administrative detention", which allows for imprisonment without charge.

Palestinian prisoners had mounted repeated hunger strikes, but rarely on such a scale.

Barghouti is popular among Palestinians, with polls suggesting he could win the Palestinian presidency as he is viewed as a hero by many.

For Palestinians, the prisons have become a stark symbol of the "Israeli" entity's occupation.

Some 850,000 Palestinians had been incarcerated since the start of the entity's occupation 50 years ago, Palestinian leaders said.

Palestinian leaders have denounced the apartheid entity's refusal to negotiate with the hunger strikers, warning of a "new intifada" if any of them die.

Demonstrations had been held in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip to support the prisoners, occasionally resulting in clashes with "Israeli" forces, though they have been limited in number.

Hamas member Wasfi Kabha, a former minister who was released on the fourth day of the hunger strike, said on Facebook that Barghouti had told him "the strike aims to achieve more humane, fairer and more dignified prison conditions."

In other developments, a Palestinian woman stabbed an "Israeli" guard at a key crossing between the occupied West Bank and al-Quds [Jerusalem] Monday before being arrested, police said.

A police statement said Asia Kaabneh, a 39-year-old mother of nine from the West Bank, stabbed a guard at the Qalandia checkpoint, injuring her lightly. The guard was taken to hospital while Kaabneh was arrested by other guards.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team