Hunger-striking Palestine inmates cut deal with Israel

By Aysar al-Iss

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Following an eight-day hunger-strike to protest their conditions, Palestinian prisoners have reached a deal with the Israeli authorities, according to a Palestinian NGO.

In a Monday statement, the Palestinian Prisoners Association (PPA) said the exact terms of the agreement would soon be announced.

PPA head Kaddoura Fares told Anadolu Agency earlier Monday that negotiations between the hunger-strikers and the Israeli authorities had recently witnessed “significant progress”.

According to Fares, the Israeli Prison Service has promised to install public telephones inside Israeli detention facilities -- one of the hunger-strikers’ chief demands.

For the past eight days, scores of Palestinians incarcerated by Israel have maintained an open-ended hunger strike to protest their conditions.

The strike was prompted by a recent Israeli decision to equip prisons with signal-jamming devices with the ostensible aim of preventing inmates from smuggling cellphones into detention facilities.

Palestinian inmates, for their part, say the signal-jamming devices pose serious health risks.

According to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority's Committee for Prisoners' Affairs, the number of Palestinians in Israeli custody currently stands at some 5,700, including numerous women and minors.