RAMALLAH: Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails on hunger strike since April 17 have ended their mass protest after Israel agreed a deal following weeks of refusing to negotiate, sources on both sides said on Saturday.

Some 30 of the more than 800 hunger strikers had been hospitalised in recent days, raising fears of an escalation of clashes with Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinians hailed the deal as a victory for the hunger strikers after Israeli authorities repeatedly vowed not to negotiate with convicted “terrorists”.

Palestinian Authority prisoners’ affair chief Issa Qaraqe said it had come after some 20 hours of talks between Israeli officials and strike leader Marwan Barghouti, a figure revered among Palestinians but reviled by many Israelis.

An Israel Prisons Service spokeswoman confirmed the hunger strike was over but said the deal had been reached not with prisoners’ representatives but with the Palestinian Authority and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Israeli authorities conceded to one of the prisoners’ main demands — that they should have two family visits a month instead of the one they were entitled to before the strike, the spokeswoman said.

Palestinian Prisoners’ Club chief Qaddura Fares said there had been a last-minute U-turn by the Israeli authorities who had finally approached Barghouti for talks.

“Right up to 8 am on Friday, the Israel Prisons Service insisted that no negotiations were possible,” Fares said.

“Then two hours later everything changed,” he said, adding that Israeli negotiators had began talks with Barghouti.

“In his cell in Ashkelon prison, they held more than 20 hours of negotiations, Fares said.

“An agreement was finally reached with the prisons service.”

Qaraqe said full details of the deal would be announced later but news of it prompted celebrations in the West Bank city of Ramallah where supporters have staffed a solidarity tent throughout the hunger strike.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2017