Israeli Public Security Minister, Yitzhak Aharonovitch, stated Wednesday that Israel did not sign any agreement with hunger striking Palestinian detainees, or reach an understanding with them, the Maan News Agency said.His statements came after reports on an agreement that led to ending the hunger strike held by Palestinian detainees, held under arbitrary Administrative Detention orders, without charges or trial.
According to Israeli medical sources, Aharonovitch claimed “the detainees need to understand that Israel will not bargain with them”, adding that the detainees “decided to halt their strike due to ongoing Israeli military operations in the West Bank”
Meanwhile, the Israeli Cabinet has decided to impose further restrictions on the detainees, including preventing the Palestinian Authority from transferring money to their accounts.
In a press conference in Ramallah, on Wednesday, Palestinian Minister of Detainees, Shawqi al-Ayasa, and the head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, Qaddoura Fares, said the detainees suspended their hunger strike, after 63 days, following an agreement with the Israeli Prison Authority.
The agreement was reached during a meeting between the striking detainees and Israeli security officials, and officials of the Israeli Prison Authority at the Tal HaShomer Hospital, Palestinian Researcher and head of the Census Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, Abdul-Nasser Ferwana, said on his Facebook page.
Al-Ayasa and Fares said during the conference that a section of the agreement states that Israel would void all punitive measure it took against the detainees, and that detainee Ayman Tbeish has not ended his strike.
Al-Ayasa said that the detainees managed to challenge Israel’s force-feeding bill, and that more than 70 international groups expressed rejection to the bill, adding that “the battle is not over, talks are ongoing, and what happened is just a suspension of the strike”.
On his part, Fares said the strike came along with very complicated conditions in the occupied territories, and that it started when direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority collapsed after, Israel failed to release the fourth and final stage of veteran detainees.
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Hunger Strike Suspended
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