Israel frees Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike

12/07/2015| IslamWeb

Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, who had been on a hunger strike in an Israeli jail for 55 days, has been released.

Adnan, who launched an indefinite hunger strike on April 6, had been placed under medical supervision at a clinic in Israel's Ramla prison earlier this month.

He had been under "administrative detention" - a practice in which Israel holds Palestinians without charges or trial - for a year, since soldiers took him from his home in Arrabeh, in the north of the occupied West Bank last July.

His lawyer Jawad Boulos told Al Jazeera on Sunday that Adnan would be released and that Israel had also pledged to never detain him again under the guidelines of administrative detention, which can imprison Palestinians indefinitely for renewable six-month intervals.

10th detention, six years in jail

It was the tenth time that the 37-year-old father of six, who worked as a baker, had been placed in detention without charge. Adnan had spent a total of around six years in jail.

He has previously been on longer hunger strikes and refused food for 66 days back in 2013.

Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from the West Bank, said that Israel had "no choice" but to release Adnan following warnings from rights groups, including the Red Cross, that he was close to death.

Adnan was a well-known figure in the Palestinian community and a leading figure in the Islamic Jihad political party but had denied that he had ever been involved in violence.

Earlier this month, Adnan's wife Randa told Al Jazeera: "We are very concerned about his health right now. It's getting much worse. We know that he could die if something isn't done quickly."

As his health deteriorated, Adnan was refusing to undergo medical tests or take vitamins, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

"We've been told he cannot stand on his own or walk and that he's shackled to the hospital bed," Randa said. "There are guards watching him at all times."

His family had also been denied visitation rights for "security reasons".

An estimated 426 Palestinians in Israeli lock-up are currently being held as administrative detainees, according to the Ramallah-based Addameer Prisoner Support Network.

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION

Khader Adnan, shown in 2012, has been imprisoned 10 times by Israel for a total of about six years - without charge [AP]

Aljazeera