‘Israel’ refuses to freeze administrative detention of 74-day-hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner
Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Israel’s High Court has refused on Tuesday to freeze the administrative order for the detention of Palestinian prisoner Alaa Al-Araj who has been on a hunger strike for 74 days.
The Palestine Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said yesterday that Israel’s High Court refused to freeze the administrative order for the detention of Al-Araj as he has been on an open-ended hunger strike for 74 consecutive days against his unfair administrative detention without a charge or a trial in Israeli jails.
In September, Al-Araj was transferred to hospital after his health deteriorated, and he is now held at the Al-Ramla Clinic.
34-year-old Al-Araj is from Tulkarem, and he is a father of one child who was born while his father is still held inside the Israeli jails.
Al-Araj has been held under administrative detention – without charge or trial – in Israeli jails since 30 June.
During his open-ended hunger strike, he lost 30 kilogrammes and now suffers serious health problems.
He has previously been detained by occupation forces and has served a total of five years in Israeli jails.
Along with al-Araj, there are another five hunger-striking prisoners’ whose health condition has been deteriorating severely, as they have been suffering from powerful fatigue, exhaustion, headache, severe weight loss, and deficiency of fluids in the body.
The longest hunger-striker is Kayed Fasfous, as he has been on hunger strike for 98 days, and he lost over 30 kilograms of his weight, and suffers from pain all over his body.
Fasfous is currently held at Barzilai Hospital, as on Thursday, Israel’s High Court froze his administrative detention.
Fasfous is followed by Miqdad Qawasmi, who has been on a hunger strike for 91 days.
Qawasmi’s health condition has been deteriorating severely as he lost over 20 kilograms of his weight, and he is held now in the Kaplan Medical Center as a patient, rather than as a detainee.
Qawasmi’s family said that he has started losing a part of his memory and that Israeli doctors in the hospital are threatening to force-feed Qawasmi.
Israel’s High Court also froze Qawasmi’s administrative detention.
The court’s order does not release Qawasmi and Fasfous from administrative detention – it simply freezes the order for the period of their treatment and observation.
The court’s decision also means that the administration of prisons and the Intelligence device are not responsible for their lives, and turning them into an unofficial prisoner held at the hospital, under the guardianship of the hospital’s security instead of the jailors.
But both Qawasmi and Fasfous said they will continue their strike until they gains freedom.
The 6 hunger-striking prisoners are:
•Kayed Fasfous (98 days of hunger strike)
•Alaa Al-Araj (74 days of hunger strike)
•Miqdad Qawasmi (91 days of hunger strike)
•Hisham abu Hawash (65 days of hunger strike)
•Ayyad Harimi (28 days of hunger strike)
•Shadi abu Akaer (57 days of hunger strike)
Around 40 Palestinian detainees started hunger strike since the start of 2021, in protest against Israel’s detention without a charge or trial.
Administrative detention is illegal under international law, however, the occupation state uses it to repress the Palestinian people.
‘Israel’ routinely uses administrative detention and has, over the years, placed thousands of Palestinians behind bars for periods ranging from several months to several years, without charging them, without telling them what they are accused of, and without disclosing the alleged evidence to them or to their lawyers.
Thus, the hunger strike is a method of a non-violent resistance which the prisoners use to protect their lives and their fundamental rights and a response to the occupation racist policies which they face in the prisons.
There are 4,650 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails, among the prisoners are 520 administrative detainees held without charge or trial, 200 child prisoners and 39 female prisoners.
