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RAMALLAH, April 21, 2012 (WAFA) – Over 1200 prisoners in Israeli jails entered Saturday their fifth day on hunger strike demanding better prison conditions, according to prisoners advocacy groups.

Addameer, a Ramallah-based prisoners support group, said an estimated 1,200 Palestinian prisoners started an open hunger strike on Tuesday, Prisoner Day, demanding an end to holding prisoners in solitary confinement, which currently affects 19 prisoners, some of whom have spent 10 years in isolation.

The prisoners also demand an end to Israel’s practice of administrative detention, under which 322 Palestinians are currently detained; a repeal of a series of punitive measures taken against Palestinian prisoners following the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, including the denial of family visits for all Gaza prisoners since 2007 and denial of access to university education since June 2011.

The Israeli prison authorities adopted a series of punitive measures to force the prisoners to end their strike, said the support groups.

Some of the striking prisoners were isolated in separate rooms and banned from watching television, listening to radio or reading newspapers. They were also threatened to be broken up into different prisons and to lose some of the so-called privileges they have in prison, including family or lawyer visits.

Meanwhile, the health condition of several prisoners who have been on hunger strike for more than 30 days, some for more than 50 days, was deteriorating, said the support groups.

Bilal Diab, from Jenin, and Thaer Halahleh, from Hebron, are currently on their 53rd day of hunger strike in protest of their administrative detention; Hassan Safadi and Omar Abu Shalal have been on strike for over 40 days and Jaafar Azzedine, Mohammad Taj, Mahmoud Sarsak and Ahmad Saqer are on strike for more than 30 days.

M.S.