In Israel, about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners are beginning their second month on a diet of salt and water.
Their most famous leader, Marwan Barghouti, has lost 13 kilograms in four weeks, despite allegedly breaking his fast
The Israeli Medical Association has come out against force-feeding the hunger strikers.
Now the World Council of Churches has intervened on behalf of the prisoners. But its access has been blocked because some of its member churches support boycotts of Israeli products.
Listen to Peter Prove, spokesman for the World Council of Churches, on the ABC Religion and Ethics Report.