Jerusalem ( CNN ) -- Negotiations to end a mass hunger strike by up to 2,000 Palestinians detained by Israel are making progress and a resolution may be only days away , Palestinian officials said Saturday . The talks over the detainee demands involve Palestinians , Israeli officials and Egyptian mediators . `` We have been informed by the Egyptian mediators that there is a very close deal to be reached in the coming hours or maybe by tomorrow , '' said Khaled al-Batsh , an Islamic Jihad leader and spokesman . Between 1,600 and 2,000 Palestinians are protesting prison conditions and administrative detention , a controversial Israeli military practice that allows authorities to detain people indefinitely . Hassan Abed Rabo , a spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and ex-Detainees , told CNN he was aware of progress in the negotiations , but did not know the details . The head of the Palestinian Prisoner Association Club , Qadoura Fares , said a deal had not been reached , but pressure to resolve the standoff included American and European officials . A senior Israeli official on Saturday would say only that talks to end the impasse were ongoing . Israel 's high court on Monday rejected an appeal requesting the release of two Palestinian prisoners who have been on a hunger strike for nearly two and a half months , an attorney representing them said . Judges ruled that the two men , Bilal Diab and Tha'er Halahlah , remained a security risk to Israel , and that their hunger strike was not a reason to release them from administrative detention , according to lawyer Jamil al-Khatib . `` If any harm happens to the prisoners especially to Tha'er Halahlah and Bilal DIab and Jafar Ezzidein and all the other prisoners , Israel should be responsible and bare the consequences and consider that the truce is no longer binding , '' said al-Batsh . The Israeli military 's detention process also allows for detention based on secret evidence , and there is no requirement to charge the detainees or to allow them to stand trial . Diab and Halahlah , members of the Gaza-based militant group Islamic Jihad , are both in custody under administrative detention . Diab has been in custody for nine months , while Halahlah has been in custody for 22 months . On Sunday , Al-Khatib said his clients were nearing death and accused the Israeli high court of procrastinating in delivering a ruling . `` I believe what the court is doing here is trying to break the will of both prisoners so they will back down in their hunger strike , '' he said . An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman , Yigal Palmor , told CNN that both men `` were arrested for their direct involvement in promoting terror '' and suggested that administrative detention constituted `` the only available means to thwart the danger '' the men posed to Israel . Amany Daify , a project coordinator for Physicians for Human Rights , an Israeli group advocating on behalf of the hunger striking prisoners , said both prisoners `` are in a life-threatening condition '' and continued to refuse to be given minerals or liquids . More than 4,500 Palestinian prisoners are in Israeli prisons for a variety of offenses , ranging from rock-throwing to murder . Of these , about 300 are being held in administrative detention , according to rights groups . The vast majority of prisoners refusing to eat began their protest April 17 , while a handful have been without food for longer . While hunger strikes are not a new tactic of Palestinian resistance , a series of recent high-profile cases has brought increased attention to the practice and served as a rallying cry for Palestinians , who have staged multiple protests in the West Bank and Gaza in support of prisoners . Besides the administrative detention policy , the Palestinian detainees ' principal demands are an end to solitary confinement , arbitrary night raids and what they term indecent searches of prisoners . They also want access to educational material , improved food and access to television . They also want family members living in Gaza to be permitted to visit . A committee representing prisoners must approve any proposed agreement in order for the hunger strike to end . CNN 's Kevin Flower and Guy Azriel contributed to this report .
At least 1,650 Palestinian detainees are on a hunger strike . Negotiations continue over their demands . Score: 6