Palestinian national and Islamic forces called in a press conference held in Ramallah on Monday for declaring Tuesday a day of national and popular support of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails topped by the cancer-stricken prisoner Nasser Abu Hamid.

A set of vigils scheduled for Tuesday in front of the headquarters of the Red Cross in all Palestinian cities was also declared in the press conference.

Dozens of Palestinians had earlier participated in a protest vigil in the Aqabat Jaber camp south of Jericho in support of the prisoner Nasser Abu Hamid and all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.

Two similar vigils were also held in Ramallah and al-Khalil.

The health situation of the cancer-stricken prisoner Nasser Abu Hamid has critically declined after he slipped into a coma last Tuesday.

Abu Hamid’s health became much worse as he has been put on a respirator in critical condition in the Barzilai Hospital suffering from pneumonia after an acute bacterial infection.

Abu Hamid who has been in prison since 2002 has lung cancer and recently started to take doses of chemotherapy after long Israeli procrastination and deliberate medical neglect.

The prisoners’ committee of the national and Islamic forces in the Gaza Strip called for declaring next Friday a day of national and popular escalation in support of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

In a press conference on Monday evening the committee declared a state of alert in support of the Captive Movement calling for escalating confrontation with the Israeli occupation forces in the flashpoints.

The committee also held the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for the prisoners’ lives.

Earlier Monday Israeli prison authorities in Nafha jail carried out a massive crackdown against the prisoners after a Palestinian inmate carried out a stabbing attack on an Israeli jailer in retaliation for the Israeli Prison Service’s abuse of female prisoners in Damon Prison.

Prisoners in section 12 in Nafha prison were tied by iron chains and left in the yard without winter clothing or blankets. Other prisoners were sent to solitary confinement.

In this regard the Palestinian Prisoners Society held the Israeli occupation responsible for the outcomes of this escalation warning of a massive crackdown against Palestinian prisoners in Nafha jail.