Marwan Barghouti
Marwan BarghoutiReuters

The Red Cross visited the leader of hundreds of security prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails on Thursday for the first time since the strike began, a spokesman said.

A delegate from the International Committee of the Red Cross visited strike leader Marwan Barghouti on Thursday morning, the spokesman told AFP, the first such visit since the strike began 25 days ago.

The spokesman was unable to provide an update on his health "in accordance with the principles of medical confidentiality."

The ICRC had been allowed access to other prisoners on hunger strike, but Israel had been restricting access to Barghouti.

Hundreds of imprisoned terrorists began refusing food on April 17, issuing a list of demands including better medical services, family visits and more dignified detention conditions.

Israel says conditions meet all international standards.

Barghouti, a senior member of Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party and a highly popular figure among Palestinians Arabs, is serving five life sentences over his role in a series of terrorist attacks against Israelis and tourists.

Earlier this week, Israel produced footage they said showed him secretly breaking his fast in his cell.

His wife Fadwa rejected the footage as fake, saying it was "intended to break the morale of prisoners."