Security prisoners announce protest in wake of toughened conditions, threaten Ben-Gvir

“We will not be deterred by threats from despicable terrorists in prison,”  the Internal Security minister declared. 

By World Israel News Staff

Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir recently issued an order  that each security prisoner be limited to a four-minute-long shower, Hebrew-language news sites reported.

In Nafha Prison, located in the south, they have already begun to implement the new policy. The infuriated prisoners announced the launching of a protest.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Authority threatened Tuesday evening to expand the protest  to the Ramon, Ofer, Megiddo, Gilboa and Katzeot prisons.

It is feared that the prisoners will escalate the struggle towards the upcoming month of Ramadan, which is considered an explosive time.

“We will close the departments, disrupt the routine and not go for security checks,” they stated.

The N12 site reported that when the guards arrived Tuesday to conduct routine checks in the cells, the security prisoners refused to cooperate and were taken out in handcuffs.

Ben-Gvir’s move also comes against the background of claims that the security prisoners waste water.

According to the report, before Ben Gvir’s directive, the security prisoners in the new wings of Nafha prison enjoyed four hours of shower per wing, compared to only one hour on Tuesday.

“We will not be deterred by threats from despicable terrorists in prison, and I am determined to continue to reduce their conditions to a minimum, Ben-Gvir stated.

“Murderers of children and babies do not deserve treats,” he said. “We have started, and I intend to continue, tightening their conditions, and the threats will not only deter me but strengthen my conviction that we need to make order and return our sovereignty in prisons as well.”

The Supreme National Emergency Committee of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement issued a threat on Monday following news of the new restrictions.

“We have decided to start a series of measures that begin with the disobedience of the prisoners in the prisons and end with a hunger strike on the first day of the month of Ramadan,” they said. “We can no longer tolerate the continued abuse against us day and night, since Ben-Gvir came to power, and the attack on the dignity of the prisoners.”

Earlier this month, in order to “deprive them of benefits,” Ben-Gvir ordered the closure of pita bakeries in the Rimon and Katzeot security prisons, which were operated by security prisoners and supplied fresh pita bread to the imprisoned terrorists.

“With these measures against the security prisoners, he (Ben-Gvir) is going to set the region on fire… We will respond to him with a war of liberation,” a warning letter from the prisoner leaders reads, Israel National News reported.

“We are not ready to discuss the living conditions, and we will not fight for pita and showers. We are fighting for our liberation and the liberation of our homeland,” the letter continues.

“Every drop of blood that is spilled is a result of the adventures of the hilltop youth and offspring of Kahana. We have nothing to lose. Those who decided to fight us will find that we are warriors. To those who threaten us with the law of death – our destiny is to be warriors, and our hope is to be martyrs for the liberation of the homeland.”

Israeli prisonItamar Ben-GvirPalestinian terroristsSecurity prisoners