Samaria Regional Council chief Yossi Dagan has joined the hunger strikers demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu normalize the status of fledgling towns in Judea and Samaria.
Dagan calls on Netanyahu to allow water and electricity to be connected to the 46 young communities in Judea and Samaria where more than 25,000 people live.
"It breaks my heart to see a child who goes without heating in the winter or a mother who must choose between cooking and laundry. 18,000 children are currently in quarantine, but unlike the rest of the population they do not have Internet access, nor indeed basic living conditions. That is why I chose to join the hunger strike. Some here have been on hunger strike for two weeks. I call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, indeed I demand of him, the immediate recognition of these new townships. No one deserves to go without the basic necessities, certainly not the pioneers who take it upon themselves to build dozens of new settlements throughout the country."
Eliyahu Atia, Young Settlement Forum that is leading the hunger strike these past two weeks, said that "Yossi Dagan is one of the greatest advocates for new settlements. He is happy and proud to be joining our hunger strike, demanding that the Prime Minister reverse the government's decision not to recognize the new settlements and to refuse them basic humanitarian services."
Uri Bertfeld, a hunger striker from the Asael settlement in Mount Hebron, said: "Samaria has sent us reinforcements in the person of Yossi Dagan. It is a travesty that we need to go on a hunger strike just to receive basic utility services."