Detainee : He will join hunger strike in letter to family

A Palestinian detainee said Monday that he intended to join other hunger strikers in their protest against prison conditions. Muhammad Nayfah wrote to friends and family from Shatta prison in Tulkarem to tell them that he was frustrated about the suffering of other hunger strikers and intended to join them on Monday. Muhammad Nayfah said in the letter that he intended to go on hunger strike in the style of Irish hunger strikers, which he said meant abstaining from all food and drink. Nayfah was detained in 2002 and sentenced to 14 life sentences. The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Detainees Affairs said 1,600 prisoners joined a hunger-strike last Tuesday to coincide with Palestinian Prisoners Day. On Wednesday, the ministry said that Israel had tightened procedures against prisoners on a mass hunger-strike.