Palestinians demand release of hunger strikers from Israeli jails

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Scores of Palestinians staged a rally in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday to demand the release of hunger-striking detainees in Israeli jails.

Protesters gathered outside the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross in al-Bireh city, waving banners calling for the release of detainees held without charge or trial.

Six Palestinians have staged an open-ended hunger strike in protest of their imprisonment under Israel’s administrative detention policy, with the oldest hunger striker Kayed al-Fasfous entering his 111 day on hunger strike.

The policy of administrative detention allows Israeli authorities to detain anyone for six months without charge or trial, which can be extended indefinitely.

“There is a real risk to the lives of the hunger strikers,” Qadura Fares, the head of the Palestinian Prisoner Society NGO, told Anadolu Agency.

He called for rallying diplomatic and political efforts to pressure Israel to release the detainees.

There are around 4,850 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, including 520 administrative detainees, according to institutions concerned with prisoners’ affairs.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara