Prisoners to start hunger strike in solidarity with Sultan Khallouf
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A number of Palestinian prisoners announce escalatory measures starting Tuesday ahead of the hunger strike that will be launched on Wednesday.
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An Israeli occupation prison guard stands at a tower a the Gilboa prison in northern occupied Palestine in September 2021 (AP)
The Supreme Leadership Committee of Palestinian Islamic Jihad prisoners announced on Tuesday that a group of prisoners will launch an open hunger strike on Wednesday, as part of solidarity measures in support of prisoner Sultan Khallouf, who has been on a hunger strike for 48 days.
According to the Committee, separate solidarity actions in support of Khallouf will begin today, and protests will take place in all Israeli occupation prisons.
As Khallouf's health condition has deteriorated significantly in the past few days, the Committee held the Israeli prison's administration fully responsible for his life, accusing it of silently killing him as it did with the PIJ leader Khader Adnan.
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Earlier this week, the administration of Israeli al-Naqab Prison decided to impose a penalty on prisoners in sections 26 and 27 by depriving them of winter clothes for 6 months. This measure aims to increase their suffering as winter approaches and their urgent need for clothing and blankets.
The Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees slammed the al-Naqab Prison administration’s decision as inhumane, warning that continued implementation of the instructions and plans of the extremist Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to harass the prisoners will have serious consequences and will result in renewed confrontation and escalation.
The Israeli occupation resorts to the policy of administrative detention as a form of psychological torture and pressure on the prisoners. Moreover, the trial sessions for administrative detainees take place secretly, depriving the prisoner of the right to a public trial.
It is noteworthy that Ben-Gvir announced in early September that new measures would be taken against Palestinian prisoners, including reducing visits to the prisoners to once every two months instead of once a month -- a step that the Supreme Emergency Committee deemed as "playing with fire."
In response, the Captive Movement made it clear in a press release that "the postponement or freezing of the occupation government's discussion of the decision to curtail family visits to Palestinian prisoners in order to fit the enemy's plans will not be accepted neither by us nor our people."
Palestinian factions and prisoners' associations have previously warned that the occupation's decisions against Palestinian prisoners will explode the situation and will push the battle of prisons to its extremes.
