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by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

[Wednesday, June 25 2014] The Palestinian “Prisoners Center for Studies” has reported that hunger striking Palestinian detainees, held by Israel under arbitrary Administrative Detention orders, announced suspending their strike after reaching an agreement with the Israeli security officials, and Prison Administration officials.

In a statement, the detainees said that, as the Israeli aggression escalates against the Palestinian people, and in an attempt to give the families of the detainees some relief, following 63 days of hunger strike carried out by their detained family members, a decision was made to suspend the strike.

“To grant our families some relief, especially before the holy month of Ramadan starts, and following 63 days of ongoing hunger strike, we have decided to suspend our strike”, the statement reads, “We held meetings with Israeli officials, and will release details of the agreement after all hospitalized hunger strikers are discharged”.

On his part, former political prisoner and the head of the Detainees Center for Studies, Ra’fat Hamdouna, stated that the talks between the representatives of the detainees and the Israeli officials lasted until dawn hours.

He said the suspension of the strike is based on an agreement obliging Israel to stop the endless renewals of Administrative Detention orders, without charges or trial.
Hamdouna added that the agreement includes, but not limited to, the following points:

1. Israel to stop the ongoing and open-ended renewals of Administrative Detention orders.

2. Renewals of such orders should not exceed one year.

3. Any renewal after that should be based on official charges, filed against the detainees, not the usual “secret files” that the neither the detainees, nor their lawyers have access to.

Lawyer Ashraf Abu Sneina, and the following detainees - representatives of the detainees committee; signed the statement;

Abdul-Jaber Foqaha, Mahmoud Shabana, Sufian al-Wahadeen, Fadi Hamad, Fadi Amro, Ashraf Asfour, Daoud Hamdan, Abdul-Razeq Farraj, and Salem Dardasawy. Signed on June 25, 2014.

See Adameer Prison map.

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RAMALLAH (AFP) -- Sixty-three Palestinian prisoners have suspended the hunger strike which they have observed in Israeli jails since late April, one of their lawyers said Tuesday.

"The strikers, who have reached an agreement with the Israeli prison authorities, have decided to suspend their action with the approach of (the Muslim holy month of) Ramadan," lawyer Abu Snena said.

Details of the deal will be made public on Wednesday, he added.

Shawqi al-Ayasa, the minister of prisoner affairs for the newly-formed Palestinian unity government, confirmed the suspension of the hunger strike, saying a major portion of prisoners' demands had been met.

Prisoners will be returned to the jails from which they were moved when they started striking, and more details of the deal will be revealed "Wednesday or Thursday," said Qaddura Faris, chairman of the Palestinian Prisoners' Society.

In addition, talks will continue between prisoners and the Israeli Prison Service, which had been refusing to negotiate with prisoners from the beginning of the strike, Faris added.

He congratulated the hunger strikers, "who fought the occupier from within prisons."

A spokeswoman for the Israeli Prison Service did not answer calls seeking comment.

Most of the strikers involved are administrative detainees who are being held without charge for indefinitely renewable six-month periods in a procedure dating back to the British Mandate (1920-1948).

The hunger strike was launched to denounce such administrative detentions.

Israel Prisons Service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman said earlier this month that their hunger strike was the longest-ever staged by Palestinian detainees.

Some 5,000 Palestinians are being held in Israeli jails, with nearly 200 in administrative detention.

Rights groups have denounced the practice, while the Palestinian authority has pressed the international community to put pressure on Israel to scrap the measure.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern about the deteriorating health of the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, calling on Israel to charge or release them without delay.

In an attempt to prevent further hunger strikes, the Israeli government wants to bring in a law which would allow the authorities to force-feed prisoners.

The draft law, also denounced by human rights groups, is due to be debated in the Israeli parliament on Monday.

Ma'an staff contributed to this report.