ICRC Visits Hunger-Striking Palestinian Detainees in ‘Israeli’ Prisons
Local Editor
Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC] began official visit of Palestinian prisoners in 'Israeli' jails, who have been staging hunger strikes since mid-April.
Citing head of the ICRC Detainees Commission Issa Qaraqe, media reported on Wednesday that representatives of the ICRC started visiting Palestinian prisoners in Zionist jails.
Qaraqe said in an interview with the WAFA news agency that the health condition of the majority of the prisoners being on hunger strike since April 17 had significantly deteriorated, and some of them had been transferred to hospitals.
He further noted that the ‘Israel' Prisons Service also took severe punitive measures against the prisoners, trying to break their strike.
Ten days ago, some 1,800 Palestinian prisoners held in ‘Israeli' jails started a hunger strike, demanding more rights from the Zionist entity and better detention conditions, as well as urging the ICRC to revive its program of supporting two visits of prisoners' families a month.
In 2016, the ICRC reduced the program, limiting the number of monthly visits of family members to prisoners to one, claiming that a large percentage of family members did not make use of the option of the second visit.
This is the 27th hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners since 1969, with the latest prior to the current one taking place in 2014 and lasting for 63 days.
A total of 6,300 Palestinians, including 300 children, were sentenced to imprisonment in the ‘Israeli'-occupied territories for political crimes, according to Palestinian non-government Human Rights Association ADDAMEER, founded 25 years ago to advocate the rights of Palestinian nationals in ‘Israeli' detention camps.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
