Hunger-striking detainees transferred to inadequate Israeli medical units

Issa Qaraqe, head of the Palestinian Commission of Detainee and Ex-Detainee Affairs, denounced on Tuesday the Israeli government's decision to transfer a number hunger-striking Palestinian detainees to small medical units.  

According to a statement issued by the commission — which is directly subordinate to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) — Qaraqe said that such units lack efficient medical systems and the equipment necessary to help the detainees.

"This is an Israeli trick that aims to deceive the world and will be led by trained nurses," said Qaraqe.

The Palestinian official pointed out that the decision to transfer the detainees to the medical units came in response to their deteriorating health status, which "threatened the lives of the hunger-strikers."

On April 17, more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners began a hunger strike in response to a call by Marwan Barghouti — a Palestinian political figure and current detainee — to protest poor prison conditions and the detention of thousands of Palestinians by Israeli authorities without trial since the 1980s, said a Reuters report

Source: Ahram online