Benjamin Netanyahu warned further military action would be taken if Hamas does not put a halt to increased rocket fire over the last 24 hours. “If the lull is violated, we will respond vigorously,” the Israeli prime minster said today. “The security of Israel’s citizens is my top concern and we know how to defend the security of our citizens.” The comments came after two more missiles were fired on southern Israel from Gaza this morning. The attack followed an Israeli airstrike …More

Eighty thousand prisoners face solitary confinement on any given day in the United States. Many remain alone and in their cells for 23 hours a day for months or even years without meaningful human contact. Once a hardly employed practice, the advent of super-max prisons and the explosion of the prison population have turned solitary confinement into a regular form of discipline in many American prisons. According to Uri L'Tzedek and Rabbis for Human Rights-North America, this form of incarceration is legalized …More

A months-long hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners came to an end today, thanks to a deal fostered by Egyptian negotiators. Nearly 1,600 prisoners held in Israeli cells refused food, some for as many as 77 days, in a protest against administrative detentions, solitary confinement and a ban on family visits. Administrative detention is a method of holding terrorist suspects and Israel did not agree to cease the practice, though some Palestinian outlets are saying the opposite. Israel officials have confirmed, …More

The International Committee of the Red Cross and European Union are urging Israel to reconsider its decision not to release two hunger strike prisoners from administrative detention. Yesterday, Israel’s Supreme Court denied a request by two Palestinian prisoners for release on grounds of deteriorated health. Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahla have both refused food since February 28. Now the ICRC and the EU have expressed concern for the survival of Diab and Halahla, as well as four other prisoners who have gone …More

Gilad Shalit went on a hunger strike that fatally endangered his health shortly before his release. The move in part lead to the exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas, as the terrorist group feared Shalit would die, Yediot Achronot reported Sunday. An intelligence source told the newspaper, "There were those in Hamas who feared that the extreme conditions under which Shalit was being held would mean they could not offer him the help he needed and he would die on them." These fears lead the group to …More