Hamas warns Israel over hunger strikes' probable death

"You must realize that the hunger strike isn't a party, and we could be surprised by the death of some of them," Khalil al-Haya, a senior Hamas member, said on Friday.

"If that happens, you can expect both the expected and the unexpected from us," he said at a Gaza solidarity tent for about 1,550 Palestinian prisoners, on hunger strike for days in Israeli jails.

"We are summoned to ready armies to free our prisoners... We have the means to mobilize and for combat," Haya said.

The warning came as Palestine's Envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour said that ten Palestinian hunger strikers held in an Israeli jail have now been moved to hospital due to their deteriorating health conditions.

Demonstrations in solidarity with the prisoners were held on Friday across the Palestinian territories.

In his Friday letter to the UN Security Council, the Palestinian envoy said that two prisoners Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahla -- who have been on hunger strike for more than 65 days -- are now in a "grave condition.”

Both hunger strikers "are suffering life-threatening conditions, including severe weight loss, nerve damage, dehydration, decreased muscle tone and low blood pressure," the envoy wrote.

According to the Palestinian Council of Human Rights Organizations, the Israeli Prison Service has collectively punished hunger strikers by denying family visits, conducting cell and body searches, subjecting prisoners to isolation, fines, and the confiscation of personal belongings.

The hunger strike was organized by inmates loyal to the Palestinian resistance movement, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the second largest organization in the umbrella group of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Some 3500 Palestinian inmates in Israeli prisons refused meals on "Prisoners Day" on April 17.