Sick Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails facing slow death

Sick Palestinian prisoners are facing slow death under the nose of the international community which fails to prod Israel into providing medicine to them, the head of the Palestinian Authority Committee for Prisoners' Affairs said.

In statements Saturday, Issa Qaraqe said there are about 1,800 sick Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, including 85 in dangerous condition.

The committee's lawyer Fady Obaidat said five Palestinian detainees in Naqab prison staged a hunger strike in protest at their administrative arrest on August 20.

Obaidat said the strikers gave the Israeli prison authority an ultimatum until September 1 to respond to their demands, otherwise they will stop drinking fluids.

There are 480 administrative Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.