Palestinian administrative detainees have initiated on Monday, August 14, 2023, new escalation measures against the Israeli prison authorities, protesting their arbitrary detention.
The detainees further elaborated that these measures will culminate in an open collective hunger strike by all administrative detainees, coinciding with the boycott of military courts.
Currently, 13 Palestinian prisoners are engaged in an open hunger strike, protesting their arbitrary detention in Israeli prisons without charges or trails.
The strike of these 13 detainees aligns with the resistance actions initiated by administrative detainees in “Ofer” prison and several other detention centres.
Approximately 60 detainees continue to abstain from participating in the occupation’s military courts.
Abd al-Qader al-Khatib, the Deputy Head of Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, stated that the administrative detainees resorted to the hunger strike when all legal, political, and judicial avenues were exhausted.
He noted that administrative detention leaves Palestinian prisoners at the mercy of the Israeli occupation forces, and that Israeli military courts render judgments according to the whims of the army.
Al-Khatib affirmed that the detainees opted for the hunger strike after multiple attempts at dialogue with the prison authorities proved futile.
He indicated that the detainees have grouped into three categories for the hunger strike, and this number is expected to increase as more detainees join.
He further emphasized that the detainees will pursue further protest actions.
Al-Khatib added that it is the administrative detainees themselves who will determine the mechanisms of future protest steps, issuing a warning that the days ahead will be challenging.
The Israeli occupation has issued 1,978 administrative detention orders since the beginning of 2023, with the highest number recorded in July.
As of the end of July 2023, the total number of administrative detainees reached 1,200 prisoners.
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