The inmates say they are being deprived of their fundamental rights and forced to endure unbearable living conditions.

Qadura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, told Arab News that the protests were necessary to highlight the problems Israel had created. The prisoners’ actions were “a battle for self-defense,” he said.

Fares, who spent 16 years in Israeli prisons, said the protesters included women, children, the sick and the elderly, some of whom had been sentenced to prison terms of up to 1,000 years.

The protests have enjoyed widespread support among Palestinians and demonstrations are expected to take place across Palestinian territories next week as a show of solidarity.

Fares said there had been an escalation in arrests of Palestinians from the West Bank, with hundreds of people being detained over the past four months since the Israeli military launched its “breaking waves” campaign.

Also, about 730 people were being held in administrative detention without trial because of charges brought against them by Shin Bet, Israel’s security agency.

He highlighted the case of Khalil Al-Awawda, who has been on hunger strike for more than 167 days in protest against his administrative detention without trial.

Despite Al-Awawda’s failing health, the Israeli authorities refused to release him, Fares said.

The prisoners’ decision to stage their protests followed the failure of appeals to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN and the EU to pressure the Israeli authorities to stop detaining Palestinians, Fares said.

He accused the Israeli government of using Palestinian prisoners as pawns in its election campaign, but said that was likely to backfire if the street demonstrations held in solidarity with the protesters continued until the time of the polls.

PLO Executive Committee Secretary-General Hussein Al-Sheikh has called for the broadest official and popular support for the prisoners and urged international institutions to intervene immediately.

He also said the Israeli government should abide by and implement all of the understandings that were made before last Ramadan.

Qadri Abu Bakr, head of the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Authority, urged all international human rights institutions to have an immediate presence in prisons and detention centers to “prevent any foolishness” on the part of the Israeli authorities in the coming days.

Palestinian prisoners should not be left alone to face “this hatred from Israeli authorities,” he said.