RAMALLAH, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned on Wednesday of the ongoing escalation against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
The Palestinian state-run news agency WAFA said in a statement that Abbas followed with deep concerns the Israeli assaults on Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, mainly at the prison called "Ofer."
The statement said that Abbas has been holding intensive contacts with various regional and Arab parties and countries to raise protection for the Palestinian prisoners.
The Palestinian Prisoners Club Association said earlier on Monday that at least 100 Palestinian prisoners were injured during clashes with the guards in Ofer in the West Bank.
The Palestinian non-governmental organization said that the prisoners were under successive repression and assaults of the Israeli guards.
According to the association, the Israeli guards used rubber-coated metal gunshots, tear gas canisters, percussion bombs, clubs and dogs to assault the prisoners, adding that three cells in the prison were set on fire.
"Most of the prisoners were injured by rubber-coated metal gunshots and many of them were sent to Israeli hospitals," said the statement.
Israeli media reported that a number of Palestinian prisoners violated the prison's disciplines and set fire to the cells, after the prison's administration punished 12 prisoners for hiding smuggled cell phones.
A Palestinian official said that Israel imprisoned in Ofer around 1,200 Palestinians, out of the total 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
According to WAFA, Abbas strongly condemned "the serious Israeli escalation against the prisoners" and held the Israeli government fully responsible for the assaults against the prisoners.
