3 month hunger strike comes to an end on prisoners’ own volition,  says Israeli Prison Service. But Jordanian officials report prisoners’ visitation rights for families led to decision.

By AFP

Four out of five Jordanian prisoners held in Israel have ended a three-month hunger strike against prison conditions, Israeli officials said on Monday.

“Four Jordanian prisoners ended their hunger strike of their own volition and without any conditions,” a source in the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) told AFP.

“The prisoners’ move was not conditioned on receiving benefits,” the source stressed.

But Jordan’s National Committee for Prisoners in Israel said the inmates ended their strike after an agreement was made, through the Jordanian foreign ministry, to allow their families to visit them.

“The date of the families’ visit is August 27,” Fadi Farah told AFP.

Farah added that one prisoner remained on hunger strike, in the hope of securing the release of all the inmates.

The prisoners began their strike against “ill-treatment and bad conditions” in Israeli jails on May 2.

Their families demanded Israel release them or transfer them to Jordan and reveal the whereabouts of missing Jordanians in the Jewish state.

Jordan’s parliament called late June for international efforts to help end the strike, saying it held Israel responsible for the “safety and life” of the inmates.

There are 26 Jordanian prisoners in Israel.

In 2007, Israel transferred to the kingdom four Jordanians serving life sentences for killing two Israeli soldiers in November 1990.

View original Ynet publication at: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4416889,00.html