RAMALLAH, August 6, 2015 (WAFA) – Some 120 Palestinian political prisoners in the Israeli
Nafha prison have launched a hunger strike in protest of a recent surge
in maltreatment and suppression by the Israeli prison authorities,
according to the Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs (CPA).
In a press statement Thursday, CPA said the prisoners, who are affiliated with multiple
Palestinian factions, resorted to escalation against the prison authorities
after they had been subjected to a number of arbitrary measures, including
provocative searches, repeated raids on prisoners’ rooms, physical
assault including with clubs, teargas attacks, as well as
the unjustified transfer of prisoners to other prisons.
Meanwhile, rage mounted among Palestinian prisoners in Eshel
prison, in southern Israel, after the prison authorities reportedly
“humiliated” their families during the regular monthly visit. The Commission
said the prison guards attempted at searching the wives and mothers of
the prisoners in a humiliating manner that was left unexplained, provoking
resentment among the prisoners and their families.
According to CPA, the prisoners in Eshel declared next Friday a “day of rage and disobedience”, and said
they will not accept meals on that day in protest of the arbitrary measures
taken against their families.
The prisoners also called upon their “brotherly Palestinians” to
go on a “day of rage” on Friday in solidarity with the prisoners.
On July 27, Israeli prison guards launched a crackdown on
Palestinian prisoners in Nafha and Rimon prisons. During the offensive,
hundreds of Israeli guards from the Nahshon, Masada, Dror and Alamaz units of
the Israeli Prison Service stormed Palestinian detainees’ cells in Nafha and
Rimon, assaulted many of them and moved others to other sections.
The Israeli repression unit of Masada savagely raided section 10
housing Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip in Nafha prison, moving all
of them to other sections and ransacking the content of the cells. In return,
Palestinian detainees burnt cell number 85 in Nafha prison.
The following day, Israeli prison guards assaulted prisoner
Ahmad Saadat, secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (PFLP) in Nafha prison.
Issa Qaraqe, Chairman of the Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs,
warned of the persisting crackdown on Nafha prison, saying the situation was
heading towards an “explosion” at any moment. He blamed the Israeli authorities
for the assault on both Saadat and other Palestinian prisoners at Nafha.
M.N/M.H
