Israel makes concessions to Palestinians on hunger strike

CAIRO – 15 May 2017: Israel has begun making concessions to Palestinian captives who had started an open-ended hunger strike 27 days ago in protest of inhumane treatment in Israeli prisons.

The hunger strike is also known as the ‘’Dignity Strike’’ and is led by activist and current captive Marawan El Barghouthy (leader of the first and second Intifadas), activist Kareem Younes, and Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Ahmed Sadaat. A total of 1600 Palestinian prisoners are part of the hunger strike.

A negotiation has already been arranged between Israeli authorities and the imprisoned Ahmed Sadaat to be held on Sunday at 3 p.m. However, Israeli officials set a prerequisite condition of the exclusion of Marawan El Barghouthy from the negotiations.

Minister of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Issa Qaraqa'a, pointed out that the Israeli prison administration’s stance on the seriousness of the negotiations is not yet clear; suggesting further that the international public opinion is what is pressuring the Israeli government to take diplomatic action with regards to the emaciated prisoners.

He also suggested that the deteriorating health status of the prisoners and the transfer of many of them to hospitals, is what prompted Israeli officials to start contemplating the idea of holding negotiations.

Qaraqa'a also stressed that there is a clear deterioration in the health situation of the prisoners and that a large number of them had begun to vomit blood in addition to experiencing dangerous weight-loss, severe dizziness, and numerous other fatigue-related ailments.

Other Palestinian reports suggested that Israeli officials had originally obstructed many potential visits between Ahmed Sadaat and his lawyer and his family members in a failed effort to coerce him to stop engaging in the hunger strike.