Egyptian and Palestinian officials said yesterday that they were close to reaching a deal with Israel to end a mass hunger strike by Palestinian people imprisoned in Israel.
Around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners are on strike to press their demands for better conditions and an end to detention without trial.
Most have been on strike for a month but three have refused food for more than 70 days.
An Egyptian-drafted proposal calls for Israel to move prisoners currently held in solitary confinement to regular cells, and allow families from Hamas-administered Gaza to leave the blockaded coastal enclave to visit imprisoned relatives.
It also calls for Israel to change its notorious policy of administrative detention, under which some prisoners deemed a security risk can be held indefinitely without charge, so that prisoners will be either charged or released after they are detained.
Palestinian prisoners have yet to review the proposal, and Israeli officials refused to comment.
A Palestinian lawyer representing the prisoners confirmed the details of the proposal, and said Egyptian officials had presented it to the Israelis.
More than 4,800 Palestinian political prisoners are currently held in poor conditions in 20 Israeli prisons.
Hundreds of them are suffering from illnesses including cancer, heart diseases, diabetes mellitus and renal failure.
Almost 200 of them are children, while 19 others are held in solitary confinement in tiny cells.
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