2 Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel said to end hunger strikes

Jawad Jawarish, 40, and Maher Ibayyat, 38, reportedly moved out of solitary confinement following deal with authorities

Illustrative photo of a prisoner in leg cuffs (Moshe Shai/Flash90)
Illustrative photo of a prisoner in leg cuffs (Moshe Shai/Flash90)

Palestinian officials said Tuesday two hunger-striking prisoners in Israeli prisons had ended their strikes after their demands were met by Israeli authorities.

The report could not be immediately confirmed by Israeli sources.

According to the Palestinian news agency Ma’an, citing the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs, the two prisoners, Jawad Jawarish and Maher Ibayyat, hail from Bethlehem in the southern West Bank.

Jawarish, 40, currently serving a life sentence for terrorism, was on a two-week strike as a protest at what he called the Israel Prisons Service’s use of torture — he was reportedly placed in solitary confinement — and Israel’s transfers of prisoners between detention facilities as a means of punishment. Jawarish himself was moved five times in recent weeks, according to Palestinian officials.

According to the report, Jawarish’s strike ended with him being taken out of solitary confinement in Ashkelon Prison and moved to Nafha Prison outside the southern town of Mitzpe Ramon.

The Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs also said Monday that Maher Ibayyat, 38, currently in the 12th year of a 25-year sentence, was on an 18-day hunger strike after he was placed in solitary confinement in Ayalon Prison in Ramle. He was taken out of solitary due to the hunger strike, Ma’an reported.

Over the past several years, prisoners in Israel, specifically Palestinians incarcerated for security violations, have launched hunger strikes in a bid to change or improve their conditions, sometimes igniting widespread protests on the Palestinian street. Palestinians held in administrative detention — which allows them to be confined for renewable six-month period without being formally charged — have also begun hunger strikes in protest.

Most Popular
read more: