Palestinian prisoner ends starvation strike following launch deal | Israel-Palestine battle Information
Khalil Awawdeh, who was held with out cost or trial, suspends starvation strike lasting 172 days and is predicted to be launched in October.
Palestinian prisoner Khalil Awawdeh ended a starvation strike lasting greater than 170 days on Wednesday after Israel agreed to his launch in October, his lawyer and the PLO’s fee for prisoners affairs have mentioned.
Awawdeh, 40, launched the starvation strike shortly after his arrest in December 2021 in protest of being held in Israel with out cost or trial, a observe often called “administrative detention”.
Till he’s discharged on October 2, Awawdeh will stay in hospital for remedy, his lawyer, Ahlam Haddad, advised the Reuters information company.
Haddad mentioned Awawdeh has subsisted solely on water for months and warned final week that he may “die at any second” as a consequence of his deteriorating well being.
The prisoners’ fee additionally confirmed Awawdeh would stay in hospital till he “fully recovers”, including that his situation requires “long-term care”.
Awawdeh is certainly one of a number of Palestinian detainees who’ve gone on extended starvation strikes through the years in protest in opposition to the so-called “administrative detention”.
Administrative detainees are arrested on “secret proof”, unaware of the accusations in opposition to them, and are usually not allowed to defend themselves in court docket. They’re normally held for renewable six-month durations that always result in years in detention.
Whereas Israel has claimed the process permits authorities to carry “suspects” whereas persevering with to assemble proof, critics and rights teams have mentioned the system is broadly abused and denies the “suspects” due course of.
‘You’re a nice nation’
Palestinian fighters from the Islamic Jihad had demanded Awawdeh’s launch as a part of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire ending three days of assaults on the besieged Gaza Strip by Israeli forces earlier this month. The group didn’t determine him as a member.
The Israeli assaults killed 49 folks in Gaza, together with 17 youngsters.
No remark was instantly accessible from the Israeli army, defence ministry or jail service.
Dawoud Shehab, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesperson, hailed the settlement as an achievement, which he mentioned got here following weeks of effort.
“We’re grateful for the large effort Egypt has exerted to safe the liberty of brother Awawdeh,” Shehab advised Reuters.
Haddad, Awawdeh’s lawyer, mentioned this week that her consumer weighs 37 kilograms [around 80 pounds] and is affected by neurological injury. He took nutritional vitamins throughout two weeks in June when he thought his case was being resolved however has in any other case solely had water because the strike started in March, his household says.
In a video circulating on social media, Awawdeh, who appeared frail and bony and saved shedding his breath as he spoke from a hospital mattress, mentioned he’ll stay hospitalised till he regains his well being and may stroll once more.
In one other video shared by his lawyer, the daddy of 4 thanked those that stood by him earlier than ending his starvation strike with a cup of tea.
“Thanks on your assist,” he mentioned. “You’re a nice nation. You’re a nice nation.”
Israel is at the moment holding some 4,450 Palestinian prisoners. Roughly 670 Palestinians are at the moment being held in administrative detention, a quantity that jumped in March as Israel started near-nightly arrest raids within the occupied West Financial institution.
Of the hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, 175 are youngsters and 27 are girls, based on the most recent figures revealed by prisoners’ rights group Addameer.
A few of the most extreme jail insurance policies to which Palestinians are subjected embrace medical neglect.
Many Palestinians view all prisoners who’re in detention as political prisoners due to the Israeli army occupation and their resistance to it.
