Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons launch protest campaign against ‘mass punishment’
Ramallah: Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons have launched a protest campaign against punitive measures brought in by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The widespread demonstrations have led to heightened tensions in prisons, and a situation that Palestinian prisoner affairs officials warned on Thursday could boil over if not addressed.
The protests began after Israeli prison authorities imposed collective punishments against Palestinians, including the closure of canteens and other facilities on Friday and Saturday.
Also under the new rules, prisoners leaving their cells will be handcuffed, even when going to the prison clinic, hot water baths are being limited to three minutes, monthly family visits are further restricted, And morning games are being stopped.
Earlier this month, Ben-Gvir ordered the closure of bakeries that provided bread for the prisoners.
In response to the moves, the Supreme Emergency Committee for Prisoners announced an immediate defiance campaign followed by a hunger strike to mark the start of Ramadan.
Kadura Faris, head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, told Arab News that the latest measures were government-inspired and aimed at humiliating and breaking the will of the prisoners and the Palestinian people.
He added that the situation had been brought to the attention of relevant international bodies, who were urged to intervene and pressure the Israeli government to ease the measures.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Prisoners Club in Ramallah said Israeli forces arrested 32 Palestinians in the West Bank at dawn on Thursday, bringing the number since the beginning of the year to 800.
Laila Zawahra, 70, from Bethlehem, the mother of one of the men sentenced to life imprisonment, told Arab News that the families of the detainees were going through a difficult time because of Israel’s harsh measures.
She claimed that prison authorities had begun transferring prisoner leaders to derail organized protests.
“I am very concerned about the condition of my son Mohammad, who is 41 years old, and his fellow prisoners. In addition to their suffering from this cold weather, they will start a hunger strike on the first day of Ramadan.
Israel currently holds 4,780 Palestinian detainees, including 160 children, 29 women and 914 administrative detainees.
Palestinian political analyst Riyad Qadria told Arab News that the Israeli government’s latest move to target prisoners could spark street demonstrations.
Israeli journalist Dana Ben-Shimon told Arab News that Ben-Gvir had already advocated a tougher stance against Palestinian prisoners before becoming a minister.
“Now he is doing this to satisfy the people who have elected him. Israeli security services are aware that any action taken against Palestinian prisoners will have an impact on the Palestinian public outside prison, even in the Gaza Strip, which is seeing a different peace situation than the West Bank. . ,