Berlin, May 9, IRNA
Germany here Wednesday expressed 'concern' over the fate of Palestinian hunger strikers languishing in Israeli jails for years, according to a German official.
Speaking at a routine weekly government press briefing, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Andreas Peschke said his country was 'closely monitoring and concerned' over the situation of Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli prisons.
His remarks come only two days after Israel's Supreme Court turned down an appeal by two Palestinians, who have been on hunger strike for the past 70 days, to free them from detention without trial.
He added that Berlin was in contact with both the Israeli and the Palestinian sides. Asked whether the case of Palestinian prisoners in Israel was addressed in the recent meeting between German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and his Israeli counterpart in Berlin, Peschke refused to provide the details of the talks.
The German official said earlier this week his country was aiming to improve the prison condition of Palestinian inmates. More than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners have forsworn food in Israeli jails for three weeks, in protest against the detentions, large-scale denial of family visits and solitary confinement.
Many Palestinians have family members in prison or experienced detention first-hand during decades of Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
International human rights groups have repeatedly slammed the Zionist regime for violating Palestinian prisoner rights.
The illegal Jewish state has also been lambasted for systematic torture of Palestinian inmates, including women and children.
© IRNA 2012
