Ramallah, August 5 (RHC)-- More than 300 Palestinians have taken part in separate hunger strikes at Israeli prisons to voice their outrage over mistreatment and show solidarity with a fellow inmate.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) said in a statement that 285 prisoners affiliated with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas have gone on hunger strike at Eshel and Nafha prisons in the south of the occupied Palestinian territories to protest oppressive measures by the Israeli Prison Service.

The PPS added that 40 other prisoners from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) have also refused to take their meals in support of Bilal Kayed.

The 35-year-old Palestinian prisoner has been on hunger strike for 51 days in protest at his administrative detention. He is now refusing to undergo medical examinations unless released.

There are reportedly more than 6,500 Palestinians held at Israeli jails. Hundreds of the inmates have been incarcerated under the practice of administrative detention, which is a policy under which Palestinian inmates are kept in Israeli prisons for up to 11 years without trial or charge.

Palestinian inmates regularly hold hunger strikes in protest at both the administrative detention policy and harsh prison conditions.