Palestinian Detainee Dies From Hunger Strike In Israeli Prison

Following a nearly three-month hunger strike, a prominent Palestinian prisoner has passed away in Israeli custody, according to Israel’s prison service.

Since Palestinian prisoners started staging prolonged hunger strikes about ten years ago, Khader Adnan, a militant from the Islamic Jihad group, is the first one to pass away in custody.

Given the increase in violence in the West Bank, his death increases the likelihood of future conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant organizations.

The Gaza Strip’s Palestinian insurgents launched a barrage of missiles into southern Israel not long after his demise was reported. In the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Palestinians demanded a general strike, and demonstrations were anticipated later in the day.

Long-lasting hunger strikes by Palestinian prisoners to protest their confinement and demand Israel’s clemency have been occurring for years.

The strategy has evolved into a last line of defense against what Palestinians view as unfair imprisonment. By withholding nourishment, the convicts sometimes grow gravely ill, but fatalities are uncommon.

The death of Adnan was described as “a full-fledged crime, for which the Israeli occupation bears full and direct responsibility” by Dawood Shahab, a spokesman for the Islamic Jihad.

Any perceived threat to Palestinian prisoners, while they are being held by Israel, might cause tensions or even bloodshed because they are revered as national heroes.

In response to convicts staging life-threatening hunger strikes, Israel has frequently given in to requests to free them or reduce their sentences.

The 45-year-old Adnan started his strike shortly after being detained on February 5. He had engaged in multiple hunger strikes following earlier incarceration. This included a 55-day strike in 2015 in opposition to his confinement indefinitely without indictment or trial under the so-called administrative detention policy.

In recent years, several Palestinians have engaged in protracted hunger strikes in opposition to being imprisoned in administrative detention.

In the majority of cases, once their health dramatically declined, Israel eventually released them. No one has passed away while being held, but many have sustained irreversible brain damage.

Adnan was reportedly accused this time of “involvement in terrorist activities” by Israel’s prison service, but he refused medical attention while the legal process was ongoing.

It stated that he was discovered unresponsive in his cell at the beginning of Tuesday and was taken to a hospital where he was later declared dead.

On Tuesday, Palestinian organizations called for a nationwide strike in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, and cities throughout the West Bank, with businesses and schools closing for what the organizers referred to as a “day of general mourning.”

According to the Israeli military, the missiles fired from the Gaza Strip under Hamas control fell in uninhabited areas and did not do any harm. In a statement, the militant organization Islamic Jihad declared that “our fight continues and will not stop.”

In May 2021, Israel engaged in an 11-day conflict with Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, including Islamic Jihad. Israeli officials said that a suspected Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank caused a light injury to an Israeli male.

According to the Israeli human rights organization HaMoked, Israel is presently keeping more than 1,000 Palestinian inmates without accusation or trial, which is a record high since 2003.

Due to Israel’s virtually nightly arrest operations in the occupied West Bank following a spate of deadly Palestinian assaults in Israel in early 2022, this number has increased over the past year.

Israel claims the contentious method aids law enforcement in preventing assaults and detaining dangerous radicals without disclosing damning information due to security concerns.

Due to the secretive nature of the evidence, administrative detainees and their attorneys are unable to mount a defense, according to Palestinians and rights organizations who claim the system is frequently abused and violates due process.