Qaraqi said the prisoners in all prisons and detention camps in Israel and West Bank began the strike against the “deliberate violation of their basic rights by the IPS.”
He added that the IPS is barring Palestinian prisoners, and mainly those in solitary confinement, from family visits, access to education, telephones and satellite channels. The prison authority, the minister said, blocks the entry of clothes into prisons and imposes financial fines on prisoners.
The minister said the prisoners “are subjected to medical negligence and prevented from receiving appropriate medical treatment in hospitals.”
According to the minister, the strikers want improving of food quality and a cessation of strip searches of their relatives during the visits. Qaraqi said the prisoners also launched the hunger strike to express solidarity for Palestinian prisoner Akram Mansour.
Mansour is suffering from a tumor in the head, severe pain in his back and kidney problems. The minister said that the prisoner is being subjected to “deliberate medical negligence.”
Qaraqi added that Israel refuses to release Mansour, who is serving a 30-year sentence for “resisting the Israeli occupation.”
According to recent Palestinian statistics, there are 6,700 Palestinians currently held in 10 prisons and three detention camps in Israel and in the West Bank. There are 300 prisoners under the age of 18. Israel also holds 37 women and 12 members of the Palestine Legislative Council.
The Palestinian prisoners held dozens of hunger strikes since the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in 1967. Abdulqader Abu Al-Fahem was the first Palestinian prisoner to die after 15 days of a hunger strike at the Asqalan prison in 1970. The prisoners Rasim Halaweh, Alial-Ja’fari and Ishaq Maragheh died in the Nafha prison in 1980 after 32 days. The prisoners Anees Douleh and Hussein Obaidat died in 1992 after 15 days.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said last Saturday that there would not be a peace agreement before the release of all Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Israeli jails.
Since December 2009, the German mediator Gerhard Konard and Egypt has failed to finalize the prisoners’ swap deal for the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The failure is due to differences between Hamas and Israel.
