Former Palestinian prisoner Wisam Rafeedie writes about Walid Daqqah’s struggle and steadfast resistance, as campaigns for his freedom intensify

Among the main demands of the prisoners is the right to receive specialized medical treatment from their personal doctors instead of those sent by the prison administration

Walid Daqqa has been inside an Israeli prison since 1986. The 61-year-old needs intensive medical care after being diagnosed with bone marrow cancer last year and suffering a blood clot-induced stroke this year in February

Palestinians and Arabs have been active agents of resistance against colonialism and imperialism since before the Nakba, and the legacy of this anti-colonial resistance lives on today.

Tuesday’s airstrikes come just days after an earlier round of Israeli bombing in Gaza in the aftermath of the death of Palestinian administrative detainee Khader Adnan, who had been on hunger strike for close to 90 days

Israel started bombing the besieged Palestinian territory after Hamas and Islamic Jihad launched rockets inside Israel following the death of Khader Adnan. Adnan, an administrative detainee, was on a hunger strike in prison for 87 days 

Adnan was arrested and placed in administrative detention in February this year, soon after which he launched his hunger strike. He was on hunger strike for 87 days

Currently at least 520 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons and detention centers under the illegal administrative detention policy, according to prisoners’ rights group Addameer

Jamal al-Taweel, Khader Adnan and Ghadanfar Abu Atwan are on hunger strike in various prisons. Around 500 Palestinians are currently being held without charge or trial under the illegal Israeli administrative detention policy