Israeli solders fire tear gas at Palestinians. (File photo)
Fri Feb 15, 2013 2:17PM GMT
At least 150 people have been injured after Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian protesters outside Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets at hundreds of Palestinians and foreign activists who had gathered outside Ofer military prison near the city of Ramallah on Friday.
The protest was held to show solidarity with Palestinian prisoners who are on hunger strike in Israeli jails with protesters calling for their immediate release. Three journalists are reported to be among the injured.
Dozens of Palestinian prisoners, including Samer al-Issawi, are currently on hunger strike, demanding better conditions including increased family visitation rights and an end to solitary confinement.
Issawi, 33, has been on hunger strike for seven months to protest against his administrative detention, a controversial practice used by Tel Aviv, which allows Israeli authorities to hold people, mostly Palestinians, indefinitely without charge or trial.
Issawi was arrested in July 2012 only months after being released as part of a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas.
According to an April 1, 2012, report published by the non-governmental Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, at least 4,610 “political” Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli jails.
Independent sources, however, put the number of Palestinian inmates in Israeli jails at 11,000.
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It is time to shut down Israel and stop them and all the trouble they make.They need to go home and stop attacking people.The world needs sanctions on them not Iran.
Agreed. I’m sick and tired of this terrorist regime masquerading as a government. The world deserves better than this; the Jewish people deserve better than this.
Free Palestine now!