Issa Qaraqe, the head of the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Commission, and Qaddoura Fares, the head of the Palestinian Prisoner Society, called on the World Health Organization (WHO) “to intervene against the intention of the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to force-feed Palestinian prisoners who have been on hunger strike since 17th April 2017,” The Palestinian Information Center has reported.
This call came after Israeli media suggested that preparations by the Israeli occupation authorities are underway to bring doctors from foreign countries to force-feed the striking prisoners. The Israeli Doctors Syndicate refused this policy, which may lead to fatal consequences.
The media committee of the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners Society stressed that “the international law prohibits this kind of feeding and that prisoners have the right to go on a hunger strike as a means of protest.”
People are standing in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, who are on hunger strike with the #SaltWaterChallenge. pic.twitter.com/lXH4MfdKXd
— Satar (@Satar_Gaza) April 29, 2017
It pointed out that the force-feeding process is done through a tube put in the mouth or the nose after the prisoner is tied to a seat, adding that this process is usually accompanied by bleeding for being done repeatedly, PIC quoted the committee as saying.
The statement said that Israel used force-feeding against the Palestinian prisoners in three previous hunger strikes between 1970 and 1980 then it ceased to be used following a ruling by the Israeli High Court following the death of Rasem Halawa and Ali al-Jaafari. However, the Israeli Knesset reapproved this policy in 2015.
6,500 Palestinian prisoners are being held in Israeli jails including 15 women, 300 children, 500 administrative detainees and 1,800 sick prisoners.
(PIC, PC, Social Media)
