3rd letter Hamas official Assayed: Health conditions of hunger strikers worsening

In a third letter leaked from his cell, senior Hamas official Abbas Assayed said that some of his fellow hunger strikers in Gilboa jail suffered serious health deterioration.

The letter which Assayed sent exclusively to the Palestinian information center (PIC) said that over the past few days, particularly on Sunday, he heard all day and night some hunger strikers groaning in pain, glorifying God loudly and beating the doors of their cells.

He added that on that day, he saw paramedics going back and forth to sections 1 and 2 before and after midnight and some hunger strikers being taken to the internal infirmary.

The prisoner said that senior Hamas official Jamal Abul Heija, 52, fell unconscious and was about to hit his head against the floor, but his cell mate Wajeh Abu Khalil grabbed his head at the last moment.

Other prisoners, like Mohamed Arman, also suffered high blood pressure, severe pains, sweating and trembling, according to the letter.

In a similar letter sent earlier to the PIC, prisoner Assayed said the current hunger strike must not be like the one in 2004 which ended with disappointing results, noting that the current hunger strike was prepared for about four years ago and is considered broader than ever.

The prisoner stressed the importance of the media in supporting the cause of hunger strikers and exposing the Israeli violations against them, and called for intensifying the activities in this field.

He also urged everyone who is able to pressure the Israeli occupation state and help the hunger strikers to hasten to do so before it is too late.