‘Israel’ decides to temporarily freeze Khalil Awawdeh’s administrative detention
Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Israeli Supreme Court decided on Friday to temporarily freeze the administrative detention of Palestinian detainee Khalil Awawdeh, who has been on a hunger strike for 171 days in protest against his unfair administrative detention without charge or trial by Israeli occupation authorities.
Mohaja al-Quds announced that the Israeli Supreme Court urgently issued a decision to freeze Awawdeh’s administrative detention as his health condition is getting worse day by day and is in a real life-threatening situation, according to several Palestinian prisoner’s advocacy groups.
Media Coverage: "First photo of Palestinian detainee Khalil Awawdeh following the suspension of his administrative detention by the 'Israeli Supreme Court, today."
The suspension came after he spent 170 days on hunger strike in protest of his unfair administrative detention. pic.twitter.com/9Vl1O7d1I1— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) August 19, 2022
The court said Awadeh’s detention would be frozen as he receives treatment at the Asaf Harofeh Hospital, citing his failing health.
The court added his detention will resume once his condition is better and he can return to jail.
Awawdeh’s lawyer, however, said that Khalil has stated he would keep his hunger strike going until he is granted a full release.
"Freezing the administrative detention isn't the end of it, so I'll keep my hunger strike until I receive a decision of release," Palestinian detainee Khalil Awawdeh said in his first interview since the hunger strike. pic.twitter.com/QOIFiR4U9M
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) August 19, 2022
Earlier last week, an Israeli military court rejected an appeal to release Awawdeh. Awawdeh has appealed to Israel’s supreme court, which is expected to deliberate on the matter on Sunday.
Freezing the administrative detention effectively means Awawdeh is no longer guarded at the hospital by Israel Prison Service guards, and his family will be able to visit him more freely. The decision also means that the administration of prisons and the Intelligence service are not responsible for his life, turning him into an unofficial prisoner held at the hospital, under the guardianship of the hospital’s security instead of the jailors.
On March 3, the 40-year-old father of four started his open-ended hunger strike in protest against his administrative detention without a charge or trial by Israeli occupation authorities who arrested him on December 27, 2021, accusing him of being a member of an armed group.
He was held at the Ofer prison, in western Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, and he previously spent a total of 12 years in Israeli prisons for resisting the occupation, including five years of administrative detention. He was released on June 30, 2016.
According to his family, Awawdeh has not eaten during the open-ended hunger strike, except for a 10-day period in which he received vitamin injections.
Lately, the Israeli military court of Ofer allowed his lawyer and a physician to visit him for the first time in order to prepare a medical report about his health condition and submit it before the court which was held last week to look into his release.
Dr. Lina Qasem-Hassan, of Physicians for Human Rights Israel, visited him at the Assaf Harofeh Hospital where he was transferred after his condition worsened. She said he weighed 42kg (around 90 pounds), was handcuffed to a bed and surrounded by guards.
“He suffers from severe neurological symptoms and cognitive impairment, which might be irreversible,” the rights group said in a statement. “His life is in immediate danger.”
The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs confirmed that the health condition of Awawdeh is getting worse day by day, noting also that he has lost more than half of his weight and suffers from weakness, acute joint pain, headaches, severe dizziness, and blurred vision to the extent that he could not recognize his wife, Dalal, who visited him at the hospital recently.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said Awawdeh’s condition had worsened. “He is in a real life-threatening situation,” said Qadura Fares, the head of the PPS. “He could die at any moment.”
Between August 5-7, Israeli occupation launched an offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing 49 Palestinian civilians, including 17 children and 4 women, and injuring over 360 others.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement demanded Awawdeh’s release along with Bassam al-Saadi, a senior PIJ commander who was arrested on August 1 in the occupied West Bank, as part of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire ending the three days of bombardment. The group did not identify Awawdeh as a member, but it demanded his release in a bid to draw attention to his detention by Israeli occupation without trial or charge.
