Around 250 Palestinian detainees from the Islamic Jihad group began an open-ended hunger strike Wednesday to protest Israel’s punitive measures against inmates, according to a Palestinian NGO.
“Around 100 of the prisoners will stop drinking water after one week,” said Palestinian Prisoner Society head Qadura Fares at a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
“The hunger strike is part of protests by the detainees to defend their rights,” added Fares.
He said detainees from other Palestinian factions will later join the strike.
There are around 400 Palestinian detainees from the Islamic Jihad group in Israeli prisons.
Prison authorities have imposed punitive measures against Islamic Jihad prisoners after six inmates tunneled out of the high-security Gilboa prison last month in northern Israel.
Five were from the Islamic Jihad group.
The prisoners were captured by Israeli forces almost one week after their escape.
There are around 4,850 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, including 40 women, 225 children and 40 administrative detainees, according to institutions concerned with prisoners’ affairs.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara
