Boosted by unity deal, Palestinian prisoner hunger strike hits third week

On Monday, as representatives of their parties spoke in Gaza, veteran prisoners Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah PLC member, and Abbas al-Sayed, a senior Hamas leader, both recipients of multiple life sentences by Israeli military courts, announced they would join the strike in solidarity with administrative detainees, former Palestinian minister of prisoners' affairs Wasfi Qabha said.

Their participation is likely to spur their movements to greater support for the strike, as well as boosting the reconciliation bid, according to al-Wuhaidi.

"Because of the dispute between the factions before, even the issue of detainees was affected," he said. "Our efforts weren't at their maximum, and didn't meet the expectations of the prisoners."

Unity between factions, he thinks, will help them coordinate their efforts to support the prisoners, whether through the diplomacy and negotiations of Fatah or the armed resistance favoured by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and others. "Reconciliation is necessary to pressure the Israelis by uniting our strategies," said al-Wuhaidi.



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