Israeli authorities have reportedly begun the transfer of all Palestinian prisoners from the Hadarim high-security prison in the north of the country to new facilities at the Nafha prison, south of the country, The New Arab reported.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club confirmed to The New Arab that 40 of the 80 Palestinian prisoners facing heavy sentencing in Hadarim were transferred on Sunday. The remaining 40 Palestinian prisoners are scheduled to be transferred on Monday to isolation in the Nafha desert prison.
The move comes less than a week after the Palestinian prisoners’ leadership announced a coming protest action against the Israeli Prison Administration’s restrictions on prison life.
Last Wednesday, Palestinian prisoners announced that they will escalate civil disobedience against Israeli prison services, possibly leading to a mass hunger strike in March.
The announcement was made in a press statement by the “High Emergency Committee of the Prisoners’ Movement”, the leadership body of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, grouping all Palestinian factions. The statement was made public by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.
“With the escalation of the occupation’s state terrorism, and the rise of the Kahanists [far right wing] to power in the occupation state, and in light of their continuous threats, we affirm that we will not allow our determination to be broken,” the statement read.
“Prisoners in all jails will confront the Zionist government’s fascist measures united, under the Palestinian flag and under a united command,” the statement continued.
“Any aggression on our rights will be met with full-scale disobedience and uprising in all prisons, and will culminate with a freedom hunger strike that will only end with our liberation, alive, or with our martyrdom.”
Over one million Palestinians have gone through Israeli detention since 1967. Currently, some 4700 Palestinians are held in Israeli jails according to human rights groups, including 34 women, 150 children, and 835 under administrative detention without charges.
