CAMPAIGNERS have called for solidarity with Palestinian political prisoner Haitham Siyaj who has started a hunger strike after his detention was extended for a further 24 hours on Wednesday.

He is one of scores detained by the Palestinian Authority (PA) during protests over the death of government critic Nizar Banat last month.

Mr Siyaj claims to have been tortured and beaten while in custody with the injuries he sustained being so severe he was hospitalised.

He is demanding his immediate release and is also refusing medical treatment or testing until he is free.

In 2016 Mr Siyaj was detained by the PA along with Basil al-Araj, a Palestinian writer known by many as “the educated martyr.”

They were allegedly tortured after being accused of planning armed attacks against Israel and were released after carrying out a hunger strike.

He has also been held for more than two years by the Israeli occupying forces without charge or trial under a draconian administrative detention order.

The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network has accused the PA of colluding with Tel Aviv to suppress dissent with a political crisis deepening as mass protests continue to demand the resignation of President Mahmoud Abbas.

“The ongoing detention of Haitham Siyaj and attacks on Palestinian protesters is a conscious policy of security co-ordination with the Israeli occupation, with the PA functioning to serve the interests of the zionist colonial project,” it charged today.

“The purpose of these Palestinian Authority security forces and the “security co-ordination” project under which they carry weapons is to prevent the Palestinian people and their liberation movement from effectively resisting and overthrowing the Israeli occupation regime throughout occupied Palestine,” Samidoun added.

The group called for urgent solidarity action, including support for the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign and for protests at Palestinian embassies demanding justice for Nizar Banat.