PIJ leader Al-Akhras starts open hunger strike after his arrest by IOF
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Israeli occupation forces raid a number of towns in the occupied West Bank and carry out mass arrests against Resistance leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
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Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Maher al-Akhras being fed by his daughter after he broke his open-ended hunger strike in 2020 following an announcement that the Israeli occupation will release him (Screengrab from Al-Akhras family video)
Israeli occupation forces detained a number of leaders from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad PIJ and Hamas Resistance groups in a number of raids targeting the occupied West Bank during the early hours of Wednesday, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported.
Among the leaders detained by the IOF was Maher al-Akhras, a prominent PIJ leader and former prisoner. Right after his arrest, al-Akhras declared he was going on an open hunger strike, our correspondent added.
Al-Akhras previously underwent administrative detention in occupation jails in 2009 for 16 months.
Read more: Al-Akhras Calls For Protests in Support of Prisoners
He was also arrested in 2018 and then again in 2020, where he fought the Empty Stomachs battle, during which he carried out an open hunger strike that lasted 103 days, which eventually led to his liberation in November of the same year.
Last week, nearly 1,000 prisoners across a number of Israeli occupation prisons initiated an open hunger strike in protest of the Israeli Prison Service's conduct against them.
An agreement was later reached between the Captive Movement in Israeli prisons and occupation authorities after tensions boiled over as a result of the occupation forces' oppressive actions taken against a number of detainees in the "Negev" prison, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported on Friday.
Our correspondent revealed that the prisoners decided to suspend all their actions in protest of the oppression that they faced, following the "occupation's commitment to return the transferred prisoners from Negev prison next week," in addition to "halting all arbitrary transfers and provocative actions [against detainees in Israeli prisons]."
Likewise, the Supreme National Emergency Committee of the Palestinian Captive Movement echoed the remarks in a statement of their own.
The committee emphasized in its statement that it is monitoring the "implementation of what was agreed upon," confirming the prisoners remain ready to "resume their movement if necessary."
