Palestinian prisoners in Megiddo prison are facing a campaign of suppression and forced transfers by the Israeli prison administration, in particular leftist prisoners associated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Dozens of prisoners have been transferred from Megiddo prison via “Bosta” – a painful, abusive form of transportation that is extremely physically and psychologically stressful – to Gilboa, Asqelan, Negev and Ramon prisons over the past few days, in addition to intensified surveillance, raids and attacks.

Bilal Kayed, one of the transferred prisoners, was the representative of the PFLP prisoners in Megiddo. Transferred to an isolation cell in Asqelan prison after an “internal hearing”, he has, as of 5 September, launched an open-ended hunger strike in protest of his transfer and isolation. Kayed, from Asira al-Shamaliya in Nablus, has been imprisoned since 2001 and is serving a 16 year sentence. Other prisoners in Megiddo are preparing protests up to and including an open hunger strike in protest of the repression in Megiddo.

Among the prisoners transferred from Megiddo include Awni Jaber, Osama Abu Daoud, Jamal Barham, Yahya Zahran, Issam Najjar, Bashar Enairat, Uday Basalat, Shaher al-Raie, Issa Abu Khait, Jafar Abu Rish, Hassan Abu Kamilah, Tayseer Amuri, and Muhannad Zeidan.