RAMALLAH, March 28, 2011 (WAFA) - Palestinian Prisoner’s Club (PPC) Monday reported that 1500 prisoners of Nafha, Rimon, Eichel, Ashkelon and some wings of Negev prison have begun a 24 hour hunger strike to protest treatment by Israeli prison administration.

Qaddura Fares, chairman of the PPC said the Israeli prisons administration’s measures include humiliation, harassment, strip search of prisoners’ families and a solitary confinement policy against prisoners.

Fares indicated a rise in the number of patient prisoners with chronic illnesses, in addition to the daily violations practiced against them.

Israeli human rights organizations had recently reviewed prisoners’ conditions and solitary confinement cells in prisons and described the cells as “graves,” saying that confining anyone inside them may lead to serious psychological illnesses.

Israeli occupation forces currently hold about 7000 Palestinians and Arabs in more than 23 prisons and detention centers.

R.Q./F.J.