Mass Hunger Strike by Palestinians to Protest Zionist Occupation Regime’s Oppressive Policies
In protest of Israel's oppressive policies and to call for the immediate release of an ailing Palestinian detainee, thousands of Palestinian prisoners are set to engage in a one-day fast.
On Sunday, the Supreme Emergency Committee for the Palestinian Prisoner Movement declared that a hunger strike will commence on Monday.
The Palestinian Wafa news agency has reported that a strike is taking place with the aim of exerting pressure on the Israeli authorities to release the long-time Palestinian inmate, Walid Daqqa.
Since 1986, Daqqa, an activist and writer, has been held in an Israeli prison due to his resistance against the country’s occupying regime. In 2020, he was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, a rare form of bone marrow cancer which hinders the body’s usual production of blood cells.
In February, Daqqa, one of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody, suffered a stroke that was caused by a blood clot, leading to a relapse in his health condition and requiring hospitalization.
The hunger strike is being conducted in order to oppose Israel’s practice of solitary confinement and administrative detention. This cruel policy, employed by the occupying power, permits Palestinians to be held in prison without any charges or trial for an indefinite amount of time.
The committee further declared that the protest measure is also intended to call for the cessation of the solitary confinement of the three leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
In April, a report by multiple Palestinian rights advocacy groups uncovered that approximately 4,900 Palestinians, including numerous women and children, are being detained by Israel.
On Palestinian Prisoner’s Day, a report was released which reported that the total number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails was 191, consisting of 31 female prisoners and 160 minors aged under 18.
The report highlighted that Israeli authorities are intensifying their maltreatment of Palestinian prisoners in an effort to weaken their determination to fight for their rights.
Palestinian prisoners held by Israeli jail authorities are subject to deplorable conditions without proper hygiene standards, and are also subject to systematic torture, harassment, and repression.
