RAMALLAH, Palestine

Islamic Jihad detainees in Israel plan to stage an open-ended hunger strike in protest of Israeli punitive measures against them following last month’s jailbreak.

In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoner Society, an NGO, said the 400 prisoners will start their hunger strike as of Wednesday.

The strike “is part of the struggle and rebellion against Israeli prison regulations,” the NGO said.

A letter will be sent to the prison authority on Tuesday of the prisoners’ demands, the statement said.

Israeli prison authorities have imposed punitive measures against Islamic Jihad prisoners after six detainees tunneled out of the high-security Gilboa prison in northern Israel last month.

Five of the escaped detainees were from the Islamic Jihad group.

The six prisoners were rearrested 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 Bassel Barakat in Ankara