Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails decided on Thursday, 23 March 2023 to halt their mass hunger strike after forcing Israeli jail authorities to meet their demands and retreat inhuman punitive measures against them.
In a statement, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs stated that Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails decided to suspend their decision to go on a mass hunger strike after forcing Israeli jail authorities to meet their demands.
Since February 14, Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jail of Nafha have started steps in protest against the Israeli Prison Service’s (IPS) decision to carry out unjust and inhumane punitive measures against them.
More than 2000 Palestinain detainees decided to join the mass hunger strike on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered the IPS to take more punitive measures against Palestinian prisoners. The measures included controlling the amount of water used in the jails and reducing access to bathrooms
Ben-Gvir wasted no time delivering on his plans to create harsher conditions for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
On 6 January, one week after assuming the role, he visited Nafha prison, considered one of Israel’s most severe for Palestinians, tweeting afterward: “Those who murdered Jews would not receive better conditions than the existing ones”, before stating his aim to pass “the death penalty law for terrorists”.
In February, Ben-Gvir ordered the closure of Palestinian prisoner-run bakeries in Israeli jails.
Palestinian prisoners resort to hunger strikes to fight issues such as solitary confinement, denial of family visits, inadequate medical treatment, and other degrading conditions.
Israeli occupation is holding 4,780 Palestinian detainees, including 160 children, some 30 women, and five Palestinian Legislative Council members. All of them were affected by Israel’s implementation of punitive measures.
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