Palestinian prisoners end mass hunger strike after securing concessions

YemenExtra

M.A.

Hundreds of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners ended their 40-day fast on Saturday (27 May) after reaching a convention with Israel for additional family visits, Israeli and Palestinian officials reported.

Roughly 1,100 convicts had initially taken part in the strike – the biggest of its kind – after Palestinians requested for better conditions, more visits and an end to arbitrary detention.

More than 800 prisoners had stuck to the strike until Saturday when Israel reached a deal with the Palestinian Authority and the Red Cross for prisoners to be given a second family visit each per month, Israel prison service spokeswoman Nicole Englander stated.

She continued by saying that 18 prisoners were receiving treatment in hospital.

Many Israelis view the prisoners as terrorists and have little sympathy for their demands. More than 6,000 Palestinians are at this moment in prison for offences linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for charges ranging from stone-throwing to weapons ownership and attacks that killed or wounded Israeli citizens and soldiers.

Palestinians rallied behind the hunger strikers as national heroes, relishing a rare break from deep divisions between two rival political groups, the Islamic militant group Hamas which controls Gaza, and Fatah, the movement of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who administers autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Palestinians have their hopes up for the protest to draw the attention of a seemingly distracted international community as the Israeli occupation reaches its 50-year anniversary in early June.