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TEL AVIV, May 9, 2012 (WAFA) - Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel) has established a situation room for the mass hunger strike by Palestinian detainees and prisoners held in prisons inside Israel, a statement said on Tuesday.

“The situation room will operate around the clock and work to gather and distribute any relevant information and to enable a public campaign for supporting the demands by the prisoners to respect their human rights,” it said.

The PHR-Israel situation room will gather and provide the maximum information to the families of hunger striking prisoners, their attorneys, physicians, and local and foreign human rights organizations, local and foreign diplomats, national and international media, and the public at large, it added.

Some 1600 prisoners started April 17 a mass hunger strike demanding end to isolation of prisoners, family visitation for Gaza prisoners and better prison conditions.

There are eight hunger-striking administrative detainees who are in very advanced stages of the strike, most of whom are more than 45 days into their hunger strike.

The long on hunger strike are Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh, who started their strike on February 28; Hassan Safadi started hunger strike on March 5; Omar Abu Shalal on hunger strike since March 7; Jafar Izz el-Din since March 21; Ahmad Ali Ahmad’s exact date for hunger strike is not known but believed to be on his 16th day of hunger strike; Muhammad Suleyman, administrative detainee suffering from Thalassemia who has been refusing medical treatment, but not food, since April 2; Mahmoud Sarsaq, held under the Unlawful Combatants Imprisonment Act law used to imprison residents of the Gaza Strip in a procedure similar to that of administrative detention, is believed to be on his 46th day of his hunger strike.

M.S.