GAZA, Aug. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Minister Hisham Abed al Razeq said Sunday that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) supported the prisoners' hunger-strike and was following up on its development.

    Abed al Razeq told reporters that the ministry had sent lawyers to visit prisoners although Israel prevented lawyers contacting the striking prisoners.

    The minister said PNA would also file a formal request to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to attend the Israeli meeting with the prisoners.

    There were about 2,600 prisoners still engaged in the ongoing open-ended hunger strike after Ashkelon's prisoners halted the liquid-only fast till Monday.

    Israeli authorities set up a committee to sit with hunger striking prisoners listening to their demands, Abed al Razeq said. The minister said Israel set up this committee under mounting pressure exerted by Palestinian prisoners and people who supported them all over the world.

    The Israeli Prisons' Authorities began talks on Saturday with representatives of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, who started an open-end hunger strike on Aug. 15.

    The reason Israel agreed to negotiate with the prisoners was the isolation Israel was placed in and the international pressure imposed on it to listen to the prisoners, one Israeli prisons official said.

    Thousands of Palestinian prisoners have been hunger striking for two weeks demanding better living conditions in jails and free and frequent communications with families.

    The hunger strike drew support from all Palestinian factions and groups. Enditem