RAMALLAH, May 31, 2015 (WAFA) – Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails Abdullah Barghouti began on Sunday an open-ended hunger strike to protest his solitary confinement, Chairman of the Prisoners’ Affairs Committee, Issa Qaraqe, reported.

The Israeli prison administration placed senior Hamas official, Barghouti, in solitary confinement after he made a phone call from prison with the Hamas-affiliated al-Ray radio, in which he asked Hamas not to be too hasty in reaching a prisoner exchange deal with Israel, according to media sources.

According to Times of Israel, “Hamas prisoner Abdullah Barghouti was placed in solitary confinement after he conducted an illegal telephone interview from his prison cell on Sunday.”

They reported that the ‘Israeli Prison Service officials said in response that “disciplinary measures will be taken against him for that interview, and the issue of the smuggling will be investigated.”

Barghouti is serving 67 life-term sentences in Israeli jails for his involvement in several attacks against Israel, which is the longest sentence ever among other Palestinian detainees. So far, he has spent 12 years of his sentence.

Barghouti’s hunger strike comes concurrently with a similar hunger strike by Islamic Jihad official and prisoner Khader Adnan, who has now been on hunger strike against his illegal administrative detention for 21 consecutive days now.

M.N./T.R.