Over 1,600 detainees in Israeli jails are due to begin a hunger-strike on April 17, a Palestinian Authority official said Sunday. According to Ma’an News Agency, Issa Qaraqe, the Palestinian Authority prisoners’ affairs minister, added that factional division among the strikers is dangerous and called on detainees with different political allegiances to unite. Palestinian Prisoners Day is commemorated on April 17. Qaraqe also urged Palestinians to participate in the day’s rallies and demonstrations in solidarity with the striking prisoners.

The prisoners are demanding an end to administrative detentions and solitary confinement. They are also demanding that Israel permit visits by families from the Gaza Strip and cancel its decision to ban prisoners from engaging in academic studies and reading newspapers.

Solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, Ofer military prison, occupied West Bank, October 2011 (Photo: Activestills)

“The situation inside Israeli prisons has become very dangerous and serious,” Qaraqe told reporters in Ramallah after being informed by the prisoners of their decision to embark on the hunger strike. “The Israeli government is using the prisoners as a tool to retaliate against the Palestinian people and their leadership.”

A series of high-profile hunger strikes have drawn international attention to Israel’s policy of detaining Palestinians without charge, which has been applied to thousands of Palestinians since 1967. Around 300 Palestinians are currently held in administrative detention in Israel, including around 20 MPs.