Fighters Detained In Nablus Go On Hunger Strike

Monday November 30, 2009 18:52 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

A number of Palestinian resistance fighter, detained by the Palestinian Authority at the Jneid prison in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, went on hunger strike four days ago and said that they will not break their strike until they are released.

One of the fighters said in a phone interview with the Maan News Agency that 12 fighters, including one of Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), are currently on hunger strike.

The eleven fighters are members of the Al Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fateh. They are all detained in sections 4 and 5 of the detention facility.
The fighters said that they were not listed on the recent ‘pardon’ order issued by Israel regarding dozens of fighters as an act of ‘good will’ towards president Mahmoud Abbas.

They added that they agreed to hand their weapons and be imprisoned by the P.A under the condition that they will be pardoned by Israel later on.

Now, they are demanding to be released and are demanding the P.A to deal more seriously with their case, and to present it to Israel.

They were detained under a deal reached between Israel and the P.A. Several fighters including Zakariya Zobeidi, head of the Al Aqsa Brigades in Jenin, were pardoned by Israel after they agreed to lay their weapons downs.

‘Pardoned’ fighters do not have freedom of movement; they remain in their districts as they could be detained by the Israeli forces should they be stopped by Israeli troops.

Zobeidi and a number of fighters were allowed to participate in the Fateh general conference which was held in the West Bank city of Bethlehem last August.

nablus | internal unrest | feature saed at imemc dot org

Jneid Prison - Maan Images