Prisoners on April 7 Hunger Strike for Sick Detainee

Palestinians detained in "Israeli" jails announced Wednesday a hunger strike to be held on Thursday in solidarity with imprisoned cancer sufferer Akram Mansour.

According to Ma'an news agency, the one day hunger strike protests the continued detention of Mansour, who suffers from a brain tumor and lacks appropriate treatment, and has two years remaining of his 33-year sentence, according to a statement from detainees in Ashkelon prison.

The action comes in response to "medical negligence and slow killing that is carried out by the administration of prisons and their medical staff against the prisoners in the "Israeli" jails, and due to the health deterioration of Akram Mansour," the statement noted.

Akram Mansour, 51, from the West Bank city of Qalqiliya, was detained in 1980 and sentenced to life imprisonment, according to a detainees center.

In January, the center's lawyer said Mansour is not receiving treatment for his cancer and called for his release.

The prisoners called on human rights organizations to support their hunger strike and named April 7 the "Day of Freedom for imprisoned leader Akram Mansour."