JERUSALEM
Following the death of Palestinian prisoner Maysara abu Hamdieh, 4,700 Palestinians at Israeli prisons went on a hunger strike.
The hunger strike, which had earlier been started by 50 prisoners in order to protest the maltreatment at Eshel, Ramon and Nafha prisons, now spread to many other prisons following the death of Hamdieh.
Palestinians in Beersheva prison are still continuing their strike, although they were not allowed to use hot water and electricity or to leave their cells because they initiated a hunger strike.
Officials said that hunger strikes could continue unless maltreatment at Israeli prisons ended, recalling that similar hunger strikes had lasted 255 days in the past.
Meanwhile, protests took place in Gaza Strip and West Bank, after Hamdieh died at the age of 64 due to cancer. Hamdieh was claimed to die due to medical neglect.
Death of Hamdieh is considered as the second suspicious case in Israeli prisons after death of Arafat Jaradat.
