10 Palestinian hunger strikers taken to Isreali hospital

Palestine’s envoy to the UN says ten Palestinian hunger strikers held in an Israeli jail have now been moved to a hospital due to their deteriorating health conditions.

In a letter to the UN Security Council, Riyad Mansour said the health situation of several other prisoners, on hunger strike for between 59 and 67 days, is at risk.

About 1,550 Palestinian prisoners are now on hunger strike in Israeli jails in protest at their detention.

Mansour noted that prisoners Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahla — who have been on hunger strike for more than 65 days — are now in a “grave condition.”

Both hunger strikers “are suffering life-threatening conditions, including severe weight loss, nerve damage, dehydration, decreased muscle tone and low blood pressure,” the envoy wrote.

All of the hunger strikers are “protesting Israel’s malicious treatment” of Palestinian prisoners, including more than 300 who have been held under the so-called “administrative detention.”

The administrative detention rules allow the Israeli forces to arrest and incarcerate Palestinians without charge or trial.

According to the Palestinian Council of Human Rights Organizations, the Israeli Prison Service has collectively punished hunger strikers by denying family visits, conducting cell and body searches, subjecting prisoners to isolation, fines, and the confiscation of personal belongings.

The hunger strike was organized by inmates loyal to the Palestinian resistance movement, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the second largest organization in the umbrella group of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Some 3500 Palestinian inmates in Israeli prisons refused meals on “Prisoners Day” on April 17.