Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners begin sit-in protest in Israel jail courtyards

Hundreds of Palestinian detainees throughout the Israeli prison system began a sit-in protest in jail courtyards on Thursday.

Detainee support group the Palestinian Prisoners' Club (PPC) said this was part of "disobedience and rebellion" actions being taken against prison rules under the slogan "united in the face of the jailer".

The prisoners also decided to take steps to dissolve the bodies that represent Palestinian detainees beginning on Sunday, The New Arab's Arabic-language sister service, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, reported.

This would force the jail authorities to deal with them as individuals, the PPC said in a statement.

Detainees are fighting to reverse measures taken by Israel after the Gilboa jailbreak, which in September 2021 saw six Palestinians escape from a maximum-security Israeli prison.

All escapees were eventually recaptured.

The measures taken by Israeli jail authorities "included the constant transfer of prisoners between prison facilities and repeated solitary confinement", PPC spokesperson Amani Sarahneh previously told The New Arab.

Detainees called off a planned hunger strike in March when Israeli authorities initially acceeded to their demands.

According to human rights groups, some 4,450 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli jails, including 27 women, 175 children and 650 detainees without charges https://t.co/CdwMvwqJp5

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"Recently, the Israeli authorities decided to resume some of those measures, especially the constant transfer between jails for prisoners with high sentenced," Sarahneh said.

"The prisoners decide to go into a full-scale mass hunger strike in September in case Israeli authorities don't backtrack on their decision."

The Supreme Emergency Committee for Prisoners, which is made up of all Palestinian factions, urged the Palestinians on Friday to intensify advocacy and solidarity efforts on behalf of prisoners.

In a statement it called for sermons delivered during Friday prayers to be dedicated to talking about prisoners and for Palestinians to protest at Israeli checkpoints throughout all of Palestine.

There are currently 4,450 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, according to 10 August figures from detainee support group Addameer. Hundreds of them are held in administrative detention without charge or trial.