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PLO calls on Israel to hear demands of hunger-striking prisoners

Xinhua, August 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

Secretary General of Palestine Liberation Organizaiton (PLO) on Sunday called on Israel to respond to the demands of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike.

Erekat said in a press release that "Israel must respond to the demands of striking Palestinian prisoners, including prisoner Bilal Kayed, who is on an open hunger strike since 54 days and the Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Parliamentarian Ahmad Sa'adat."

His statements came after he met with members of the diplomatic corpse in his office in the city of Jericho, where he also called for the release of the fourth batch of veteran Palestinian prisoners who were detained before the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993 and members of the Palestinian parliament, highlighting the importance of the international pressure to put an end to the suffering of prisoners.

Palestinian Prisoners Club said in an emailed press release that over 80 prisoners in Israeli jails are currently on an open hunger strike protesting the policy of administrative detention and solitary confinement.

Administrative detention is a measure that allows Israeli authorities to detain prisoners without charing them or allowing them to stand a trial based on secret information that cannot be accessed by either the detainees or lawyers, for periods of six months that can be renewed for unlimited times.

Bilal Kayed, is in the forefront of this collective strike, which he started individually, said the statement. He is protesting returning him to administrative detention after he ended his 14.5 years long sentence in Israeli jails.

In 2012, Israeli prisons authority and Palestinian prisoners struck a deal ending a 28 days long strike, brokered by Egypt. The deal included ending solitary confinement, limiting down administrative detention and allowing family visitations for prisoners from Gaza.

Official Palestinian reports say that Israel is not abiding by the deal points, and that Israel has issued 950 administrative detention order and renewal since the beginning of 2016, raising the number of current administrative detainees to 750. Endit