Four Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails have entered into a hunger strike in protest of being detained without a charge or trial, while a fifth started a hunger strike in protest of being held in solitary confinement, according to the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission.Kareem Ajwa, an attorney with the Commission, said the four detainees, Sami Janazreh, Imad Batran, Abdur-Rahim Tawayfeh, and Abdul-Ghani Safadi, recently entered a hunger strike in protest of being held under administrative detention, without a charge or trial.
The fifth detainee, Nahar Saadi, has also embarked on a hunger strike to protest of being held in solitary confinement for two years, according to WAFA.
The Commission said a sixth prisoner, Issam Zaineddin, from Nablus, started protesting measures in protest of his solitary confinement as well for being barred from family visitation.
There are more some 500 Palestinian detainees being held under administrative detention, a controversial Israeli practice that allows detention of Palestinians without charge or trial for up to six-month intervals that can be renewed indefinitely.
Israeli officials claim the practice is an essential tool in preventing attacks and protecting sensitive intelligence, but it has been strongly criticized by the international community as well as by both Israeli and Palestinian rights groups.
Palestinian detainees have continuously resorted to open-ended hunger strikes as a way to protest their illegal administrative detention and to demand an end to this policy, which violates international law.
See also: Detainee Sawaifa Continues Hunger Strike For Fifth Day
