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Abbas urges efforts to rescue life of striking prisoners in Israeli jails

Xinhua, April 17, 2017 Adjust font size:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday called on the international community to press on Israel to rescue the life of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners who started a hunger strike in Israeli jails.

The Palestinian state-run news agency (WAFA) reported that Abbas greeted the 6,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails as they mark the Palestinian Prisoner's Day. Around 1,500 of the prisoners began on Monday an open-ended strike.

Abbas stressed that he is doing all he can to secure their release and end their suffering.

He said the prisoners' issue remains a central one for his administration and for the Palestinian people in general.

The president warned that the situation is bound to get worse if the Israeli government persists in denying them their basic human rights and refuses to treat them with dignity as required by international agreements, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The Palestinians in the occupied territories and all over the world mark Monday the national Prisoner's Day in support for hundreds of prisoners imprisoned in Israeli jails.

Head of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Detainees Affairs Commission Eassa Qaraqe' said early on Monday that several hundreds of prisoners have begun an open ended hunger strike this morning.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club (PPC), Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Detainees Affairs Commission and other organizations to defend prisoners' rights announced that a series of public activities are to be carried out during the day to express solidarity with more than 7,000 Palestinian and Arab prisoners behind the bars in Israel.

They said that over 1,500 are expected to join the open-ended hunger strike against the Israeli prisons' services, calling for improving their daily living conditions in jail. Endit