EU expresses serious concern about health condition of Abu Hawash

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- The European Union has expressed serious concern on Monday about the health condition of the 141-hunger-striking Palestinian detainee in Israeli jails, Hisham Abu Hawash, stressing that “a solution should be found immediately.”

“Seriously concerned about the critical health condition of Palestinian Hisham Abu Hawash, who has been on an extended hunger strike,” the European Union Delegation to the Palestinians tweeted yesterday.

The Delegation added, “The use of administrative detention without formal charge remains a longstanding concern.”

“Detainees have the right to be informed about charges underlying any detention, must be given a fair trial within a reasonable time or be released. A solution should be found immediately.”

41-year-old Hisham Abu Hawash from Dora in occupied Hebron, was arrested on October 27, 2020, and held under administrative detention.

He has been on hunger strike since August 17, 2021 in protest against his administrative detention without a charge or trial by Israeli occupation authorities.

Till today, Abu Hawash, a father of five, continues his hunger strike for 141 consecutive days despite his health condition has been deteriorating severly and he is now at a high risk of sudden death, according to Palestinian prisoner advocacy groups.

The groups said that Hisham is in a coma, adding that he lost speech, hearing, and sight.

Abu Hawash has also been losing considerable weight, weighing around 39 kilograms.

He has been suffering from powerful fatigue, exhaustion, serious decline in body fluids and vitamins, and has been vomiting blood.

He has also had trouble drinking water and has felt palpitations with every movement. The groups have warned against Israel’s force-feeding of Abu Hawash.

It was also reported that Hisham is suspected to have blood poisoning and kidney damage, as he is having difficulties in draining urine. Water in his body has decreased to one-third after he fell into a coma, adding that those are very dangerous signs, which mean that Hisham is dying.

The prisoner groups noted that doctors, working for the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), beat Abu Hawash when they were transferring him from the clinic of the Ramlah prison to the Israeli Asav Haroveh hospital.

Israeli authorities also prevented all visitations to Abu Hawash.

On December 26, Abu Hawash was transferred to the Assaf Harofeh hospital in southern occupied Palestine following a deterioration in his health. Shortly after he was transferred, the occupation authorities decided to freeze his administrative detention amid fears of sudden death. Such a decision is made routinely by Israeli courts, which come only within an Israeli strategy to forcefully end hunger strikes, which demand the end of illegal administrative detentions.

There are now 4600 Palestinians held in Israeli occupation jails, including 34 women, 160 minors, and 500 administrative detainees held without charge or trial.

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