Israel has agreed to release 1,027 Palestinian political prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli army soldier captured by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas in 2006.<br /><br />However, thousands of Palestinians remain incarcerated in Israeli prisons.<br /><br />In June, Israeli PM Binyamin Natanyahu announced tougher restrictions on Palestinian prisoners. These restrictions include limited access to books and clothes, as well as expanded periods of solitary confinement. <br /><br />To protest against the restrictions, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners have gone on hunger strike. Recently, Palestinians living in the occupied territories have joined the protest.<br /><br />Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford reports from Ramallah.
