RAMALLAH, May 30, 2012 (WAFA) – Prisoners who reached a deal with the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) on May 14 that ended their month-long hunger strike feel betrayed by Israel for not keeping its end of the bargain, Minister of Prisoners Issa Qaraqi said Wednesday.
He told Voice of Palestine radio that the prisoners are thinking about going back on hunger strike if Israel persists in not honoring the terms of the agreement.
According to Qaraqi, Israel reneged on not renewing administrative detention against Palestinian activists without clear evidence that would justify keeping them in detention.
He said Israel renewed in the last few days administrative detention against around 30 administrative detainees, some of them lawmakers, without any apparent reason.
The IPS has also told Gaza prisoners that it would allow family members a visit once every two months and for 30 minutes only, a condition the prisoners have rejected.
Qaraqi said there was still one prisoner held in solitary confinement in spite of a promise to bring all prisoners out of solitary confinement.
The prison administration was also punishing prisoners who were involved in the hunger strike.
Meanwhile, two prisoners, Mahmoud Sirsik and Akram Rikhawi, continue on their hunger strike to protest their conditions in jail.
The Palestinian Prisoners Club said Sirsik, who has been on hunger strike for 76 days, and Rikhawi, in his 50th day of hunger strike, are getting weaker every day they stay on strike and their health seems to have sharply deteriorated.
M.S.
