Three female Palestinian prisoners opened a hunger strike, as high tensions between Palestinian prisoners and the Israel Prison Service (IPS) continued on Wednesday morning, according to Palestinian reports.
The rest of the female prisoners at Damon Prison will join the hunger strike in stages, according to the report. The move comes after alleged abuse and mistreatment of female prisoners at the prison in the past week.
The Palestinian Asra Media Office, which focuses on prisoner affairs, claimed that the situation in Israeli prisons was escalating on Wednesday as the IPS refused to meet the demands of the prisoners.
A Prison Service (IPS) staff member was stabbed by a Hamas member in Nafkha Prison on Monday afternoon, in an attack carried out as "retaliation" for the alleged mistreatment of female prisoners. Multiple Palestinian factions have called for a "day of rage" on Friday in support of the prisoners.
Hamas officials have warned that crossing "red lines" concerning the prisoners would have "repercussions on the region."