Prisoners : Conditions tougher since swap deal

Prisoners in Israel's Ashkelon jail say conditions have worsened since the captive swap deal between Israel and Hamas in October, a prisoner affairs center said Thursday. Detainee Shadi Sharafa told the center's lawyer that new restrictions were in place in the jail, including 21-day bans on family visits, while prisoners were denied basic needs such as mattresses, blankets, cleaning products and clothes. Most prisoners were sleeping on the floor, Sharafa added. In Nafha prison, the center's lawyer met with Hassan al-Najjar, 44, from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Al-Najjar was detained in March 2007 and sentenced to eight years. Al-Najjar also said prison conditions had worsened since the prisoner swap deal. He said the Israeli administration did not allow families to send money to detainees to buy food, adding that the prison food was inedible and prisoners often went hungry rather than eat it. The prisoner affairs center urged human rights organizations to take action against Israel's treatment of prisoners.