France 'concerned' over health of Palestinian hunger-strikers

France said on Wednesday that it was "very concerned" over the health of four Palestinian hunger-strikers who are said to be in critical condition in Israeli detention. The Palestinians have refused food for months to protest their "administrative" detention by Israeli authorities which deprives them of a fair trial and appropriate representation. "We are concerned by the situation of the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, some of whom in administrative detention are in critical health condition," Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said here. "On a humanitarian level, we call on the Israeli authorities to urgently take the appropriate measures," the official added. He recalled that France and its European partners have expressed their concern about this situation directly to the Israeli authorities. France said that it has informed Israeli of its view that "administrative detention must remain an exceptional measure, be limited in duration and be carried out with respect for fundamental guarantees, in particular the defence rights of the detainee and the right to a fair trial in a reasonable time-frame." This is rarely if ever the case with the Israeli system and people can be held for years without seeing the inside of a court house. "We continue to closely follow the evolution of the situation as well as the implementation of the accords between prison authorities and prisoners concluded last May," Lalliot remarked.