Barghouti 'meets prison chief over hunger strike demands'

Imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti met with the head of prison authorities in Israel's Hadarim prison, the PA ministry of prisoners affairs said Monday. Prison chief Aharon Franco told Barghouti and other prisoner representatives that the authorities will respond soon to prisoner demands in a mass hunger-strike launched two weeks ago, as a designated committee has completed its review of the issue, a ministry statement said. Prisoners warned that if authorities do not take practical measures to meet their conditions, the scope of the strike will be expanded. On April 17, marking Palestinian Prisoners Day, at least 1,200 prisoners in Israeli jails launched an open-ended hunger strike, with prisoner groups estimating that 2,000 people are now refusing food. They are demanding a change in their living conditions, and an end to solitary confinement, night raids and bans on family visits for prisoners from Gaza. Prison authorities have responded by denying them family visits and separating them from inmates not taking part in the protest. More than 4,000 Palestinians are imprisoned in Israel, around 320 of them without any charge.