After more than eight months on hunger strike, Sharawna signed an agreement to be deported to Gaza for 10 years on Sunday, news agency Maan reported, adding that he would arrive to Gaza in a few hours.

The Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs, Issa Qaraqei, earlier on sunday refused to cooperate with the Israelis in the deportation of prisoners saying it was political blackmail.

Sharawna served ten years in Israeli prisons, before he was released in a prisoner exchange deal on 18 October 2011, in which 477 prisoners were released in exchange for the release of IOF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured by Hamas. Most of released prisoners had been convicted with long sentences.

On 31 January 2012, Ayman was again arrested without charge or trial, based on a “secret administrative file” which states that he breached the terms of the exchange deal.

In response to the arrest, Ayman announced an open hunger strike on 1 July 2012, demanding his immediate release.

After one month on hunger strike, Ayman was transferred to Ramleh Prison Hospital due to the rapid deterioration of his health.

Ayman is married with 9 children, and during his nearly 10 year imprisonment, he was denied visits from his family, according to Prisoner support and Human Rights Association Addameer.

Last week, European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton said that the EU is following with “great concern” the situation of prisoners on hunger strike.

At the end of Jan. 2013, some 4,593 Palestinian security detainees and prisoners were held in Israeli prisons, according to Addameer.

Amnesty International has called on Israeli Authorities to investigate allegations that two Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in protest at their continued administrative detention have been ill-treated while in detention, in a statement issued on Saturday.

Hassan Safadi and Samer al-Barq have been on hunger strike since 21 June and 22 May respectively. Independent medical examinations conducted last week found that both men were weak and that they risk death if the hunger strikes continue.

According to their lawyer, while the men are barely able to stand and use wheelchairs for their daily needs, guards have repeatedly beaten and verbally abused them while in detention at the Israel Prison Service Medical Centre in the central city of Ramleh.

 Hassan Safadi’s health deteriorated on 6 August and he was transferred to Assaf Harofeh hospital, where he remains shackled to his bed – which constitutes degrading treatment prohibited under international human rights law.

Detainees can be held in administrative detention without charge or trial for periods of up to six months which can be renewed indefinitely. Israel has used the measure against its citizens since 1948. Thousands of Palestinians from the occupied Palestinian territories have been subjected to it since 1967.

Hassan Safadi has been detained since 29 June 2011. He ended a previous 70-day hunger strike in May. Then when his administrative detention order which expired in June was renewed for another six months, he restarted his hunger strike on 21 June. 
 
Samer al-Barq has been held in administrative detention since 2010. He ended a hunger strike after 50 days in the middle of May 2012, only to resume it days later after his detention order was renewed for a further three months.

Administrative detainees – like many other Palestinian prisoners – have been subjected to violations such as the use of torture and other ill-treatment during interrogation, as well as cruel and degrading treatment during their detention, sometimes as punishment for hunger strikes or other protests.

In addition, administrative detainees and their families must live with the uncertainty of not knowing how long they will be deprived of their liberty and the injustice of not knowing exactly why they are being detained.

Like other Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody, they have also faced bans on family visits, forcible transfer or exile and solitary confinement.

A mass hunger strike involving some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees protesting poor prison conditions, including solitary confinement, denial of family visits and detention without charge came to an end on 14 May following an Egyptian-brokered deal with the Israeli authorities.

 Despite media reports suggesting that Israel had agreed that administrative detention orders of current detainees would not be renewed unless significant new intelligence information was presented, the Israeli authorities have continued to renew orders and to issue new ones.

As of the end of June 2012 there were at least 285 Palestinian administrative detainees, among them members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).

Khaled Meshaal told journalists in Cairo that he had the same opinion with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and with Arab League chief Nabeel Al Arabi over the hunger stike issue and were in  ”full coordination.”

Al-Arabi has denounced Israeli detention policies as being inhumane and in violation of human rights.

Approximately 1,200 Palestinian prisoners began an open hunger strike on 17 April, with the campaign gaining further momentum over this past week and additional prisoners joining daily, according to Addameer support and human rights association.

Addameer estimates that the current number of prisoners engaged in open hunger strike is around 2,000. This number includes the 19 prisoners currently held in isolation for “security reasons.” Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who has been held in isolation for over three years, reported on 23 April that since the beginning of his hunger strike on 17 April, he had already lost 6 kg.

According to Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and prisoner advocacy groups, there are currently over 6,000 Palestinian prisoners, including legislators, in Israeli jails, many of whom have been rounded up without charge or trial.

Palestinian sources reported, Sunday, that detained secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Ahmad Sa’adat, was moved to the Ramla prison hospital after the deterioration of his health condition.

The Quds Net News Agency reported that detainees of the PFLP rejected an Israeli offer to end their hunger-strike in exchange for removing Sa’adat from solitary confinement, and stated that Israel must stop all of its violations, and put an end to its illegal solitary confinement policies.