An East Jerusalem-based NGO said on Wednesday that Palestinian administritive prisoners are still going on hunger strike, following the much-punlicized strike of aIsraelmic Jihad activist which ended earlier this year.

This latest wave of hunger strikes, recorded by the prisor aid group Addmeer, followed two high profile strikers, both of whom ended their protesr earlier this year.

In December, Islamic Jihad operative Khader Adnan went on a hunger strike in December to protest Israel´s administrative detention policy - a provision that allows the country to hold detainees for an unlimited period of time without trial or formal charges.

He ended the strike in Feburay after a deal was reached in which the state would not request to extend his detention past April 17.

Following Adnan, Hana Shalabi, another member of Islamic Jihad, stopped taking food after Israeli troops seized her in the West Bank on Feb. 16. She ended her strike after 30 days, following an agreement according to which Shalabi would be deported to Gaza, where she will have to stay for three years.

In wake of both of these highly visible cases, Addmeer attorneys indicataed that there were eight Palestinian prisoners in Israeli administrative detention currently on hunger strike.

According to Addmeer´s list, those pirosners include Ta´ir Halale from the Hebron area and Bilal Diyab from the West Bank village of Kafr Ra´i, who have both been on hunger strike for 44 days and demand the cancellation of their administrative detention and their immediate release.

More names on the list are Hassan Safdi, who has been striking for the last 37 days; Omar Abu Shlal , who has been on hunger strike for 36 days; Ahmed Saker, known as the Palestinian under the longest administrative detetnion, and who has been on hunger strike for 24 days; two prisoners from Jenin who have been striking for 20 days; and Ahmed Ataj, who has been on hunger strike for 24 days.

Officials at the Israel Prison Service (IPS) confirmed that, according to their infomarion, seven Palestinian prisoners are currently on hunger strike, four of which are hospitalized at the medical wing of Ramle prison.

As far as the length of the strikes, the IPS claims 27 days as the longest one.

It should be noted that the Palesitni Authority has intensified its activities in support of Palestinian prisoners, with the PA´s Minister of Prisoners´ Affairs, Issa Karake calling to form an international panel to probe the issue.

Karake, who spoke during a session of the UN´s Human Rights Council in Geneva, also urged the international community to press Israel into cancelling the admnistrative detension policy altogether. (© Copyright 2012 Ha´aretz 04/12/12)