Ramallah: The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has urged the Jordanian government to intervene immediately on behalf of Jordanian prisoners who have been on a hunger strike in Israeli jails for the past month, and called for Amman to put pressure on Tel Aviv to meet the prisoners’ demands.
The PNA has initiated contacts with the Jordanian government to apprise it of the condition of Jordanian prisoners in Israeli jails, especially those on hunger strike, a senior Palestinian official said on Monday.
According to Eisa Qaraqei, the Palestinian minister of detainees’ affairs, high-level contacts with the Jordanian government are currently underway to secure its immediate intervention to save the lives of the fasting Jordanians in Israeli jails.
“Four fasting Jordanian prisoners have already been referred to Al Ramlah Prison Hospital,” he said. “The medical conditions of these prisoners have been deteriorating at a rapid pace. It is time for the Jordanian government to intervene and to put massive pressure on the Israeli government to save the life of Jordanian prisoners in Israeli jails,” he said.
“Unless the Israeli government meets the demands of those prisoners, there will be no chance to end this deteriorating issue,” Qaraqei said.
Six Jordanian prisoners in Israeli custody launched an indefinite hunger strike demanding that their families be allowed to visit them in prison. The six prisoners began their hunger strike on May 2 and other Jordanian prisoners are expected to join the strike. There are 20 Jordanian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Since the time these Jordanian nationals were arrested and sent to Israeli jails in the early 2000s, they have not been granted a single family visit, constituting a serious human rights violation under international laws.
Once the Jordanian prisoners launched their hunger strike, the Israeli Prison Service transferred the fasting prisoners to solitary confinement in order to prevent any kind of contact with other prisoners that could influence them to join them in their fast.
The Jordanian prisoners in Israeli jails have signed a letter and sent it through to influential Jordanian families demanding immediate help “before it is too late”.
Qaraqei said that the PNA would not countenance poor treatment of the Jordanian prisoners by the Israelis. “We will stand by the Jordanian prisoners and support them with all the possible capabilities,” he said.
The fasting Jordanian prisoners include Monir Marei, Ala’a Hammad, Mohammad Al Rimawi, Abdullah Jaber, Hamzah Othman and Abdullah Al Bargouthi, who has been sentenced to 67 life terms, a punishment equivalent to 5,200 years of imprisonment.