RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- A number of the Palestinian prisoners who have been on hunger strike in Israeli jails for 46 days are in serious danger, a lawyer said Sunday.

Jawad Bolous, chief attorney for the Palestinian Prisoners' Society, told Ma'an that thirteen of the hunger-striking prisoners have suffered from gastrointestinal bleeding throughout the past few days.

Two of them have undergone surgery, while the other eleven were told they could not be treated surgically unless they ended their hunger strike, Bolous said.

Another two prisoners needed intensive care after losing consciousness, and several others are suffering from eyesight weakness.

Bolous said the Israeli Prison Service was taking punitive measures against the strikers, denying some of them toothbrushes, shampoo, shaving razors, and other necessities.

The lawyer said he met with nine prisoners who are being held in Israel's Tel Hashomer hospital, identifying those he visited as Abd al-Jabir Fuqaha, Jawad al-Jaabari, Mahmoud Waedyan, Mazin Natsha, Jamal Hamamra, Mahmoud Shabana, Faraj Rummana, Raed Hamdan, and Tariq Ideis.

The prisoners he visited had each lost approximately 16 kilograms (35 pounds) since they started their strike, he said.

Around 125 prisoners have been on hunger strike for more than 45 days, while hundreds more have joined the hunger strike since that group began on April 24.

The prisoners are protesting against Israel's policy of indefinitely detaining Palestinians without charge or trial, a process known as administrative detention.

Palestinian prisoner rights organization Addameer estimates that around 183 Palestinians are currently being held in administrative detention.

Over 800,000 Palestinians have been detained since 1967, with 5,224 currently being held in Israeli prisons, according to the PLO.

Source: Maan News