Palestinians say will continue strike

Palestinian prisoners who have been on hunger strike in Israeli jails for 18 days say they will continue the campaign until their demands are met.

More than 120 Palestinian inmates have been on an open-ended strike since April 24 in protest against Israeli administrative detentions.

In a letter posted on Facebook, the inmates stated that they would not give up their hunger strike campaign despite extreme weakness.

The striking inmates say they are being subjected to assault by Israeli prison guards and that they are being held behind bars despite their innocence.

Officials say a number of prisoners have been taken to hospital over deteriorating health condition.

Israeli prison authorities have imposed additional restrictions on the detainees, preventing most of them from meeting their lawyers.

Most of the striking prisoners are elderly and many of them suffer from serious health conditions.

Palestinians have recently held solidarity demonstrations across the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip to show support for the prisoners.

One of the largest demonstrations, organized by the Coalition of Youth of the Intifada, Hamas, and the Islamic Jihad, was held in the West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron) with thousands of participants.

It was the largest demonstration held in the city over the past seven years.

More than 5,000 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons, nearly 200 of them under administrative detention orders, which allow suspects to be imprisoned without trial for up to six months. The detention order can be renewed for indefinite number of times.