BICOM

The Israeli Prison Service has released the full list of demands from the leader of the Palestinian hunger strike.

Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences after being convicted in an Israeli civilian court in 2004 on five charges of murder and one attempted murder, set out 19 requests in a letter to Prison Service head Ofrah Klinger on 17 April.

The requests include public telephone use, air conditioning, unrestricted access to books and magazines, 20 TV channels, open university studies, family visits and annual medial checks.

In response to the demands, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said: “No country in the world would enter into negotiations with prisoners for such demands and certainly Israel, which is in a campaign against the terror organisations, will not agree to surrender to extortion and damage its deterrent against terrorists.”

On Sunday, Barghouti met his lawyer Khader Shkirat for the first time since initiating the hunger strike. He gave Shkirat a letter, which was published in Arabic media outlet al-Mayadeen, urging reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, and calling on Palestinians to carry out “acts of civil disobedience” on Nakba Day.

Barghouti wrote that the prisoners are continuing “the campaign for freedom and dignity until we achieve our objectives,” and that “all efforts at blackmail and tough moves will only increase the prisoners’ determination”.

According to Israeli sources there are currently 894 prisoners involved in the hunger strike, a significant decrease from the reported 1314 prisoners who were taking part at its highest point. Palestinian officials say more than 1,000 are taking part in the strike.