Israelis put hunger-strikers under watch

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Several dozen hungerstriking Palestinians have been transferred from their cells to special wings in Israeli prisons for additional medical supervision, a spokesman for the Israel Prison Service said Wednesday.

After 31 days, 843 prisoners are still on a hunger strike, said the spokesman, Assaf Librati.

The prisoners, jailed for offenses linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, seek better conditions, including more family visits. Israel refuses to negotiate.

Librati refused to provide details about strike organizer Marwan Barghouti, the best-known prisoner, who is considered a possible future Palestinian leader.

After a prison visit earlier this week, Barghouti’s lawyer said that his client would soon refuse water. It remains unclear if Barghouti, who has been held in isolation since the April 17 start of the strike, has stopped drinking.

Librati said Barghouti, a leader in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement, remains in his cell.