The Palestinian Captive Movement’s High Emergency Committee has announced that the open-ended mass hunger strike will start on Thursday evening in light of the Israeli prison service’s (IPS) intransigent attitude and its insistence on not ending its punitive measures against the prisoners.
“We are fighting this battle with determination and resolve in order to stop this brutal aggression against our lives and achievements” the Emergency Committee said in a statement on Thursday.
The Emergency Committee also announced the formation of a steering committee responsible for leading the hunger strike and engaging in any talks to take place with the IPS and its jailers.
About 1000 Palestinian prisoners in different Israeli jails intend to participate in this hunger strike before others join in gradually in the coming days according to the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS).
A few days ago a number of initial protest steps were staged in Israeli jails with Palestinian prisoners refusing to go out for security checks and taking the meals served to them on certain days.
The prisoners also dissolved the regulatory committees representing them in jails last Sunday and wore detention uniforms in prison yards and during stand-up counts on Monday.
The Palestinian Captive Movement already warned the IPS that these initial protest steps would culminate in an open-ended mass hunger strike if it persisted in its repressive measures against prisoners.
These protest steps according to PPS are aimed in particular to pressure Israeli jailers to stop the frequent transfer of prisoners serving life sentences from one prison to another and also to improve the incarceration conditions of prisoners in general.
