Families of Palestinian prisoners demonstrating in support of their sons who were on hunger strike. (WAFA Images / Ahmad Mizher) 

RAMALLAH, Monday, April 15, 2019 (WAFA) – Several hundred Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails called off today their week-long hunger strike after reaching an agreement with the Israel Prison Service (IPS), according to the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission.

Commission spokesman Majdi Adra told WAFA that after days of negotiations between representatives of the prisoners in Ramon prison in the south of Israel and the IPS, it was agreed that public phones will be installed in the prisons for the prisoners to use three days a week.

In addition, the IPS agreed that all prisoners moved from the Naqab (Ketziot) prison also in the south following the recent unrest in the prison will be returned to their cells and fines imposed on the prisoners involved in the unrest will be cut by almost half.

One point of strong contention that was the cause for the rebellion in the Naqab and Ramon prisons, the installation of jamming devices, has been deferred to until after the public phones are installed.

As a result of this development, said Adra, the prisoners declared an end to all their protest measures.

The agreement came only two days before the Palestinians mark the Palestinian Prisoner Day in which several hundreds more prisoners in various Israeli prisons were supposed to join the strike. 

M.K.