Palestinian prisoners end hunger strike after 40 days

HUNDREDS of Palestinian prisoners yesterday ended a 40-day hunger strike over conditions in Israeli jails.

About 1,100 inmates initially began the strike which has raised tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.

Protests in support of the strikers have resulted in clashes in the West Bank and along the Israel-Gaza border.

More than 800 inmates ended the strike after talks between the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Palestinian Authority to change some of the prisoners’ conditions, the Israel prison service said.

Qadoura Fares, from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, told Reuters: “Issues that had been agreed upon were improving visits and prison conditions.”

The strike was called by high-profile prisoner Marwan Barghouti to protest against solitary confinement and detention without trial. Israel says the latter is necessary to prevent attacks.

Barghouti, a leader in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement, was convicted of murder over the killing of Israelis during the second Palestinian uprising.

Polls show many Palestinians want him to be their next president.

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s public security minister, has said Barghouti started the strike to garner political support.