Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails start a hunger strike yesterday (Sunday) to protest the prison administration’s crackdown, the Palestinian prisoners’ society said.

According to Al Ittihad daily newspaper, the society said prisoners were at risk since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the prison service to toughen conditions for Palestinian detainees.  “The party’s over” for Palestinian prisoners, Netanyahu said two weeks ago. The premier said the crackdown was intended to pressure Hamas to release captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Relatives of Palestinians detainees in Israel (Photo: Al Ittihad)

The Palestinian Minister of Prisoners Affairs Issa Qaraqe said Friday that Israeli authorities had formally informed all prisoners of new policies, which include preventing prisoners from continuing their university education in prison. Qaraqe said the prison-wide strike would last three days. The strike was called following raids in Ashkelon prison on Thursday.

The Nahshon and Metzada units of the Israeli Prison Service beat detainees and sabotaged their possessions, a statement by Qaraqe said.  They were also forced to strip naked and were made to wait in the prison courtyard for six hours, the minister added. The prisoners’ society and the higher committee of prisoners also organized a protest Sunday in Ramallah city center “to show solidarity with Palestinian prisoners,” the group said in a statement.