RAMALLAH, Thursday, June 13, 2019 (WAFA) – Palestinian prisoners at the Israeli Asqalan prison have decided to go on hunger strike starting Sunday after the Israel Prison Service (IPS) rejected their demands for better conditions, the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) said today.

It said the decision was made after the IPS not only rejected their demands, but also threatened to take punitive actions against the prisoners if they go on strike.

The 45 prisoners at Asqalan in the south of Israel said their mistreatment has increased since the end of April with nightly raids and searches of the cells, imposing fines on the prisoners and moving some around as a punishment.

Their demands included stopping what they described as the vicious and armed raids of the cells, ending the punitive measures against prisoners, improving medical treatment for ill prisoners, installing fans, allowing cloths in, among others.

Often when prisoners go on strike in one prison, others follow suit in support. There are currently over 6000 Palestinians incarcerated in Israel for resisting the occupation of their homeland.

M.K.