( CNN ) -- The lawyer representing two Palestinian prisoners entering the 70th day of a hunger strike said his clients were nearing death and accused an Israeli high court of procrastination in delivering a ruling that could save their lives . `` Their medical condition has gone from very bad to extremely worse , '' Jamil al-Khatib said of clients Bilal Diab , 27 , and Tha'er Halahlah , 33 , . `` 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 . '' Palestinians protest detention policy . Diab and Thaer are among the estimated 1,600 to 2,000 Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons staging a mass hunger strike to protest prison conditions and the practice of administrative detention , a controversial Israeli military practice that allows authorities to detain people indefinitely . The 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 , have been in custody for nine months and 22 months , respectively , under administrative detention . 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 . Looking pale and weak , both men appeared in wheelchairs before the Israeli high court Thursday while their lawyers petitioned the judges that they be released , arguing that their continued detention was illegal and that their deteriorating medical conditions should be taken into consideration . The court was expected to rule on the matter Sunday , but no decision was forthcoming . 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 . `` There is no documented history of any person who survived without food or supplements beyond 75 days , '' Daify said . According to a spokeswoman for the Israeli Prison Service , Diab is being held at an Israeli hospital while Halahlah is being cared for at prison medical facility . 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 on 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 and high-profile cases have 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 . Guy Azriel contributed to this report .
Bilal Diab , 27 , and Tha'er Halahlah , 33 , have entered day 70 of a hunger strike . Their lawyer : Ahmed Abu Bakr Score: 6