The head of Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs, Issa Qaraqe, testified Wednesday in front of a United Nations independent commission in Amman over prisoner abuse and international law violations in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The testimony took place in the Kingdom after Israel denied entry commission investigators entry into the occupied Palestinian territory.
In a statement released after the meeting, Qaraqe said his testimony focused on "unprecedented, oppressive, and brutal" Israeli violations Israel against Palestinian prisoners during a mass hunger strike between April and May.

Qaraqe told the commission that the Israeli government orders officials to assault Palestinian protesters, on hunger strike to improve their living conditions in Israeli custody.

Prisoners were calling for an end to the denial of family visits, the right to pursue higher education, appropriate medical care and treatment, and an end to solitary confinement and administrative detention.

The strike ended after the the Committee of Prisoners' Affairs claimed that Israeli authorities had agreed to some of the prisoners' demands.

However, Israel Prison Service (IPS) has maintained that it did not negotiate with the hunger strike leaders, nor accede to any of their requests.

Qaraqe called on the commission of inquiry to directly investigate the harsh living conditions of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, and urged the UN General Assembly to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the dangerous situation of Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli authorities currently hold 6,200 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, according to prisoners’ rights group Addameer, 490 of which are under administrative detention.