Sixty-three Palestinian prisoners have agreed to suspend their 62-days hunger strike after reaching a deal with the Israel Prisons Service Wednesday, their lawyer told Agence France-Presse. However, both the sides have only made a "short-term" agreement, details of which are to be made public on late Wednesday.
The prisoners' protest of refusing food began on April 24 after Israel held them without charge or trial under a controversial procedure called administrative detention, which can be indefinitely extended for years and dates back to the British Mandate of Palestine (1920-1948).
"The strikers, who have reached an agreement with the Israeli prison authorities, have decided to suspend their action with the approach of Ramadan," Ashraf Abu Snena said, referring to the Muslim fasting month which begins this weekend. The agreement was confirmed by Israel.
"The hunger strike was suspended overnight," Israel Prisons Service (IPS) spokeswoman Sivan Weizman told AFP, adding that all the prisoners were being treated in hospital due to their rapidly falling health. "But this arrangement does not involve any suspension or cancellation of the use of administrative detention. This measure will continue to be used."
"Around 200 of the 5,000 or so Palestinians held by Israel are administrative detainees, although that number looks set to double as Israel presses a major arrest operation in the West Bank following the disappearance of three teenagers believed kidnapped by Hamas," according to AFP.
"So far, 371 Palestinians have been arrested -- 280 of them Hamas members -- with most expected to be slapped with administrative detention orders."
The Palestinian leadership and human rights groups have denounced the use of administrative detention, urging international pressure on Israel to scrap the measure. Earlier this month, the IPS said the hunger strike was the longest-ever staged by Palestinian detainees, leading UN chief Ban Ki-moon to express concern about the deteriorating health of the hunger-strikers and demand Israel to either charge or release them.
In an attempt to prevent further hunger strikes, the Israeli government plans to pass a controversial law which would allow the authorities to force-feed prisoners. It is to be put to a second and third vote in parliament on Monday.
