The Palestinian prisoners threatened to start a mass strike in all Israeli prisons to protest against the deterioration of their conditions and the Israeli authorities' reversal of understandings agreed upon with them earlier.
The Palestinian prisoners announced, on Saturday, the initiation of protest steps against the Israeli prisons administration, after it retracted from previous understandings with them, and threatened a collective strike after activating the “emergency committee.”
This came in a statement carried by the Palestinian Prisoners Club (non-governmental) on the authority of the Supreme National Emergency Committee, which represents the prisoners of the Palestinian factions in all Israeli prisons.
The prisoners said in a statement bearing the number “1”: “After consultation, we decided to engage in our movement, starting from the beginning of this week, through tactical steps that will end within a maximum period of two weeks with an open hunger strike in which all factions of national action participate in the occupation prisons.”
They explained that their movement will begin “through a strike on the next Monday and Wednesday, while refraining from going out for security checks as an initial start and a last warning to the occupation prisons administration to stop this attack and retract its decisions.”
They said that "the Israeli Prison Administration retracted previous understandings last March, after which they halted their movement at the time."
They added that this administration "decides to return to its decision to abuse prisoners in general, and life-long prisoners in particular, through arbitrary transfer every 6 months."
They explained that the arbitrary transfer of the prisoner loses his stability and harmony with his surroundings, which was imposed on him after spending long years in captivity, as the majority of prisoners are close to their 20 years inside the prison.
Accordingly, the prisoners said: “We have rearranged our ranks for a battle that may be imposed on us soon by reactivating the Supreme National Emergency Committee of the captive national movement to confront this Zionist attack.”
They called on all the Palestinian people and their “living and resistance factions” to stand by their side in this “battle.”
On March 10, the prisoners suspended protest steps against the prison administration, after the latter retracted its measures against them.
The Prisoners’ Club said at the time that the prisoners “suspended the steps they had started more than a month ago, which included disobedience and rebellion against prison laws.”
The Palestinian prisoners are protesting against the “abusive” measures taken by the prison administration against them, after 6 prisoners managed to escape from Gilboa prison in September 2021, before being re-arrested later.
In the same month, the prisoners formed the “Supreme National Emergency Committee” emanating from all factions, to approve and manage their protest steps.
The number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons is about 4550, including 27 female prisoners, 175 minors, and 670 administrative detainees (without trial or charge).