Three Palestinian administrative detainees in Ofer prison are engaged in an open hunger strike since November 16, brothers Mohammed and Islam Badr and Thaer Abdu.
All three are held in a single room in section 14 in Ofer prison, and are on a total strike, taking only water, reported Palestinian lawyer and Prisoners Society director Jawad Boulos. Section 14 is a criminal section of Ofer prison rather than a political (labeled as “security”) section. However, Boulos reported that Islam Badr has been taken to interrogation and he was unable to meet with him during his visit.
Mohammed Badr was arrested on October 28 and a six-month administrative detention order issued against him by Ofer military court. He is a former prisoner who served four and one-half years in prison after his arrest in 2008. Islam Badr is currently under a three-month administrative detention order; he was also held for 50 days in 2011. Thaer Abdo was arrested on October 27 and is being held under a 6-month administrative detention order. He is also a former prisoner who served two and one-half years after his 2006 arrest.
The three prisoners entered an open hunger strike to protest the administrative detention during a campaign of mass arrests carried out by the occupation forces through a special undercover force after the Israeli military’s killing of Mohammed Assi, a leader of Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, last month.
Mohammed and Islam Badr were seized by undercover occupation forces from a shop belonging to their family after their cell phones and laptops were taken.
