Following reports on Sunday that Palestinian prisoner leaders detained in Israel had launched a hunger strike over Israel Prison Service reforms that include a crackdown on contraband cellphones – which it says security prisoners use to coordinate terrorist activity while incarcerated – Palestinian media outlets reported Sunday afternoon that the prisoners prefer to negotiate their demands with the IPS and will go on strike only if talks reached an impasse.
The Palestinian media quoted a prisoner leader who said that while a few dozen security prisoners had declined meals, no official hunger strike had been declared.
A senior IPS official told Israel Hayom that no steps taken by Palestinian prisoners would cause Israeli prison authorities to cancel recent widespread security reforms.
"We won't allow them to direct terrorist attacks from inside prison. In the future, we will take more severe steps against them," the official said.
Four prisoners who reportedly began hunger striking Sunday morning were Mohammad Arman of Hamas; Zaid Bisisi from the Islamic Jihad; Wael Al-Jagoub of the Popular Front and Hassan Derbasi of the Democratic Front.
It was expected that 1,400 more might join them by April 17, Palestinian Prisoners Day, with a prisoners' statement saying all prisoners would be invited to join on May 1, if no agreement was reached.
The strike was announced in advance, and is the culmination of protests and riots that started following prison authorities installing cellular signal jammers in the wards as part of a comprehensive rehaul of prison condition ordered by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan.
The hunger strikers are demanding that the devices be removed, citing health concerns. They also asked for visits from their relatives resume – they are regularly interrupted for security reasons by Israeli authorities.
A communique by Qadri Abu Baker, chairman of the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission at the Palestinian Authority, confirmed reports in media on Friday that a point of discussion was the installation of public telephones in the Negev and Ramon prisons.
Although cellphone use is forbidden in Israeli jails, authorities often tolerate it, controlling it through regular crackdowns.
"In order to prevent escalation, we will respond to every scenario with the utmost severity and determination to make it clear that the security of the prisons is in the hands of the IPS, and not by any other party," the source added.
Supporters of the prisoners took to social media, under the Arabic hashtag معركة_الكرامة# ("battle for dignity") with many seeing in the protest more than just an attempt at removing cell phone restrictions.
Although it denied doing so on Friday, numerous Palestinian and Israeli media outlets reported that negotiations were still under way on Sunday between representatives of the Palestinian prisoners and the IPS.
A political protest
The protest comes at a crucial point, as Israel enters the last week of its general election campaign, and the first week of what is expected to be intense political wrangling over the construction of a ruling coalition.
The issue is a cause of concern for the ruling party, which is running on a strict security platform, with some challenging it from the Right.
"Then they tell me Netanyahu supports the Right," tweeted MK Bezalel Smotrich, No. 2 on the Union of Right-Wing Parties list, deriding the prime minister after referring to reports of negotiations.
"They can get hungry as they want, to death, without forcefeeding and shoes. I call on Netanyahu to cease any discussion with the terrorists in prison," he added.
There are 5,370 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and they are a large and important constituency in the complex field of Palestinian politics. More than 80% of Palestinian families have one member in jail, according to some estimates.
They are organized in committees that oversee daily life in the prisons, as well as the relationship with Palestinian authorities on the outside.
