Foreign Desk: Hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel have begun an indefinite hunger strike. About 1,000 prisoners in all Israeli prisons began a hunger strike at 7 p.m. local time on Thursday. Kudra called on Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank to unite and take to the streets in support of the prisoners.
Tensions escalated after a raid on a Negev prison in southern Israel and the transfer of detainees to other areas, according to a separate joint statement from human rights groups.
According to Palestinian figures, at least 5,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons. At least 1-200 of them are being held in detention without charge or trial.
Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons have been protesting for years, demanding better living conditions as well as an end to indefinite detention.
The hunger strike comes amid a growing Israeli crackdown on violence in the occupied West Bank over the past 15 months, in which Jewish settlers have ransacked Palestinian villages. At least 196 Palestinians and 24 Israelis have been killed in clashes since January, according to a UN study.
After the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, Israel placed millions of Palestinians under military rule. Not only that, the Israelis continued to build settlements there. Most countries condemn this behavior of Israel.
When US-brokered peace talks aimed at establishing an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem failed in 2014, no attempt was made to restart them.