Israeli prison services transfer Marwan Barghouti, other Palestinian leaders to Ofer ahead of prisoners' hunger strike

Two weeks before an announced Palestinian prisoners' hunger strike was to begin, Israeli authorities transferred dozens of Palestinian prisoner leaders away from their previous jails to the Ofer detention centre near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, Israeli prison services transferred 120 Palestinian leaders, including Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi, after raiding their selections in Rion and Nafha prisons to a single section at Ofer.

"This is the first time that the Ofer detention centre hosts high-sentenced, first-rank prisoners' leaders", Ayah Shreiteh, spokesperson for the Prisoners' Club, told The New Arab.

WATCH: The moment when well-armed Israeli occupation forces stormed Rimon prison and attacked Palestinian prisoners. pic.twitter.com/dMR3aIjlKW

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"Marwan Barghouti and other leaders had already been transferred in January to the Nafha prison, but they were amidst other prisoners", said Shreiteh.

"We don't know yet the conditions in which they are placed in Ofer", she added.

Israeli authorities decided to transfer Palestinian leader prisoners every two months between prisons after six Palestinian prisoners escaped the high-security Israeli jail of Gilboa in September 2021.

On Sunday, the Palestinian prisoners' unified leadership body, the "High Emergency Committee", announced a massive hunger strike to start on 14 September to protest the recent decision by the Israeli security minister Itamar Ben Gvir to reduce family visits for Palestinian prisoners.

Minister of National Security of Israel Itamar Ben-Gvir keeps on his hostile policy through tightening measures against Palestinian prisoners. pic.twitter.com/ndgYPsZE9s

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"This new transfer of leaders might be an attempt to isolate prisoners' leaders from the rest of prisoners ahead of the announced hunger strike", a source at the Addameer Prisoner Support Association told TNA.

"There are no confirmed details about the upcoming hunger strike yet, but it is a known measure by the occupation authorities to collectively isolate the leaders of the prisoner movement ahead of a massive protest move", the source added.

Palestinian prisoners have been confronting Israeli authorities for more than a year. Since the beginning of 2023, Palestinian prisoners have declared collective hunger strikes five times, following an escalation by Ben-Gvir against prisoners' detention conditions.

Since taking office as Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir has placed the question of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails high on his agenda.

Now in power, he appears to be translating his aggressive views into policy by imposing repressive measures against… pic.twitter.com/ZEbsS3MgZJ

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The five hunger strikes were called off shortly after agreements were reached with the Israeli prison services. Palestinian sources have described Palestinian prisoners as being "trapped" due to an ongoing Israeli "civil war" between Ben-Gvir and the prison services.

Currently, Israel holds some 5,100 Palestinians in its jails, including 33 women, 165 children, and 1200 detainees without charges, under the Administrative Detention System, according to Palestinian sources.