Four hunger strikers transferred to Al-Khalil

Four of the five PA prisoners who went on hunger strike 45 days ago have been transferred to Al-Khalil, while the fifth remains in Bethlehem.

PA security militias moved Mohannad Nerokh, Ahmed al-Awiwi, Majd Obeid, and Wissam al-Qawasimi to another PA prison in the detainees’ West Bank hometown of Al-Khalil, said former minister of prisoner affairs Wasfi Qabaha. He suspected that the failure to transfer the fifth striker Wael Beitar was an attempt to circumvent and buy time for the prisoner’s demands and break the strike.

The move will ease family visits and allow loved ones to monitor their health conditions throughout their hunger strike.

The wife of Wael al-Beitar who was left behind said officials failed to move her husband with the other prisoners because of the size of his case.

The Palestinian Supreme Court ruled earlier for the release of the hunger strikers, a decision PA security militias have yet to implement.

Mohannad Nerokh was pronounced clinically dead as a result of his strike. Outsiders have expressed serious concern over their health conditions in light of the ban on visits which frustrated efforts to monitor their health.

A high-profile delegation of Palestinian leaders, including Raed Salah and Arab follow-up committee head Mohammed Zeidan, are heading out to meet the hunger strikers and their families in Al-Khalil.

The move came after a prior meeting with PA prime minister Salam Fayyad discussing closure of the hunger striker’s issue and reconciliation.

The delegation reached an agreement with the PA to move the strikers from Bethlehem to Al-Khalil before freeing them.

In a separate development, an ex-prisoner in Israeli occupation jails Awni Kamil was taken to the Jenin hospital intensive care unit after he was severely tortured during interrogation in PA prisons, Kamil’s family said Monday.

PA security militias transferred former Islamic Bloc representative Abdurrahman Ishtaya to military court on January 9, sources told the PIC.

The militia has banned visits to Ishtiya because of his refusal to end the hunger strike which he announced December 20 after prison authorities threatened to transfer him to the central Jericho prison. He was transferred from his cell to the prison two months after is arrest and then returned to his cell on December 14.