12 October 2023; MEMO: Israel has cut off electricity and water for Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, in an apparent step to prevent them from aiding the conflict between occupation forces and Palestinian resistance fighters on the outside.
According to Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, which cited senior officials in the country’s Prison Service, “electricity has been cut off for all Palestinian prisoners” in order to block all access to media and means of communication by the prisoners who would otherwise apparently potentially deliver guidance or instructions to the Palestinian resistance fighters currently battling Israeli forces.
The decision to suspend the prisoners’ power supply was reportedly issued by Prison Service Commissioner, Katy Perry, who also ordered on Saturday that a lockdown be imposed on all Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails and to confine them to their cells.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club, however, it was not just electricity that has been suspended and withdrawn from the detainees, but also their water supply. “More than 5,250 Palestinian prisoners are facing the risk of a real disaster in Israeli prisons after the Israeli occupation’s decision to cut off electricity and water in the prisons,” the Club was quoted as saying.
The Israeli prison authorities’ move comes amid the government’s wider tactic of imposing a total siege on the Gaza Strip and cutting off all electricity, water, food, fuel and aid supplies to the Territory as the Occupation’s military carries out a brutal bombing and airstrike campaign on Hamas and Gaza’s civilian population.
Out of the 5250 prisoners, there are reportedly 39 female prisoners and over 170 children amongst them, making the risk they face far more severe.
