BICOM

Hamas has asked Israel to improve conditions for Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli prisons as part of a ceasefire deal being mediated by Egyptian officials.

The demands include cancelling punishments for prisoners involved in recent prison riots, family visits for prisoners from Gaza; additional goods made available in prison canteens; more televisions for inmates and an end to mobile phone jamming.

The introduction of mobile phone jamming devices, to limit the use of mobile phones smuggled into prisons, led to an arson attack in the wing in which the jamming was installed. The Israel Prison Service announced it would charge the Hamas prisoners in Ramon Prison, where the incident took place, NIS 250,000 (£53,000) after they set fire to their mattresses.

According to Palestinian sources, Palestinian prisoners will begin a hunger strike on Sunday 7 April, beginning with 50 prominent prisoners, including leaders of Palestinian factions. If their demands are not met, they said their hunger strike will continue until the declaration of a comprehensive strike in all prisons on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoner’s day.

Egyptian officials have made progress in Israeli-Hamas negotiations. Earlier this week, Israel expanded the fishing zone off the coast of Gaza, agreed to ease restrictions on exported goods, improve the electricity supply and begin projects to provide temporary employment. After the election, Israel will open another power line from Israel into Gaza within six months and build a gas pipeline to the Gaza power plant within a year.

Yesterday, Hamas’s leader Ismail Haniyeh said the missile that hit a house of a British-Israeli family in Mishmeret was: “the result of a technical malfunction” but added that “it is a small example of what the occupation will face if it decides to perpetrate any stupidity”.