Some 1,200 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails began an open-ended hunger strike Tuesday, Israel's prisons authority said, as Khader Adnan, who ended a 67-day hunger strike in February, was due to be released from prison.
The hunger strikers were protesting against what they call "humiliating" measures in Israeli prisons, including strip searches of visiting family members and night searches of prison cells.
An additional 2,300 declared they would not eat for one day, as Palestinians mark Prisoners’ Day in solidarity with Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons.
They also object to Israel's policy of "administrative detention," which allows it to jail suspected militants, based on classified intelligence information made available only to a military judge, without trial and for extendable six-month periods.
Protests are slated to take place near the Ofer Prison in the West Bank, as well as in Ramallah. Palestinian organizations began commemorations on Monday night with a torch-lighting ceremony in the home of Khader Adnan, who went on a hunger strike to protest Israel's administrative detention policy - a provision allowing the state to hold detainees for an unlimited time without trial or formal charges. Adnan ended the hunger strike in February, after 67 days, having struck a deal with the state to release him at the end of a four-month prison term. He is due to be freed on Tuesday.
Among the prisoners currently striking, three have been striking for more than 40 days. Tair Halala of the Hebron area and Balal Diab of the village of Rai near Jenin, have been hunger-striking for 48 days in demand to be freed. Moreover, Hassan Safdi of Nablus has been on a hunger strike for 41 days and Omer Abu Shlal has been striking for 40 days.
Israel Prison Service confirmed that the four are receiving medical treatment, but say that the prisoners have only been striking for 27 days.

By Jack Khoury, Avi Issacharoff and DPA

Haaretz.com