Israel Mulls Bringing in Foreign Doctors to Force-feed Palestinian Hunger Strikers
Doctors would be brought to help feed prisoners whose lives are considered to be in danger, Channel 2 reports
The Israel Prisons Service is considering bringing foreign doctors to help force-feed hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners because the Israel Medical Association has refused to allow its members to participate in such actions, reported Channel 2 news on Thursday evening.
- Israeli medical ethics expert: Hunger striking prisoners should be force-fed
- Palestinian Authority, Fatah torn over how to deal with protests for prisoners
- Israel's High Court finds force feeding constitutional: 'A hunger striker is not an ordinary patient'
- 700 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel declare mass hunger strike
Doctors would be enlisted to help feed those prisoners whose lives are considered to be in danger because of the hunger strike.
The doctors would come from a specific, unidentified country, and the treatment would take place in a Prisons Service medical facility, said Channel 2. Issues related to legality and health are being examined.
Over 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners, mostly Fatah members led by Marwan Barghouti, began a hunger strike on April 17, demanding additional privileges, and most are still continuing with their strike.
Last year, Israel's High Court of Justice ruled that a law permitting the force feeding of prisoners who go on a hunger strike is constitutional. The High Court rejected petitions filed by the Israel Medical Association and by several human rights groups against the law.