Kayed Fasfous: Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails starving for over 4 months to gain freedom

Despite of health deterioration, Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails, Kayed Fasfous, continue his an open-ended hunger strike in protest of his unfair administrative detention without a charge or trial by Israeli occupation authorities and to gain his freedom.

32-year-old Fasfous, who is a father of one and from Dura village near Hebron, south of the occupied West Bank, was arrested several times before, the last one was in October 2020.

He has been on an open-ended hunger strike since July 15, 2021 against his administrative detention in Israeli jails without a charge or trial.

On October 14, 2021, Israel’s High Court decided to freeze Fasfous’s administrative detention.

Such a decision does not release Fasfous from administrative detention – it simply freezes the order for the period of his treatment and observation, as his health condition has been deteriorating severely.

The court’s decision also means that the administration of prisons and the Intelligence service are not responsible for his life, and turning him into an unofficial prisoner held at the hospital, under the guardianship of the hospital’s security instead of the jailors.

On October 29, Israeli occupation police and intelligence services broke into the Barzilai Hospital where Kayed is held, prevented doctors from seeing him, and handed him an order to reactivate his administrative detention, sentencing him to a new six-month administrative detention.

On November 4, Israel’s High Court decided to freeze the administrative order for the detention of Fasfous again.

Fasfous’s family and relatives are able to visit him at the Barzilai Hospital as a patient, rather than as a detainee, but they are not allowed to transfer him to any place.

He was held before at the Al-Ramla Clinic, but was transferred to the Barzilai Hospital as his health has worsened.

He lost over 40 kilograms of his weight, and suffers from pain all over his body and might die any moment.

His family said that lately that he is facing “clinical death” after losing feeling in his lower body and spiking a high fever.

According to his brother, Fasfous was recently transferred into a smaller, windowless and unhygienic hospital room.

Kayed’s daughter, Jiwan, has repeatedly urged international human rights groups and concerned people to intervene and save her father.

“My father is very tired,” said Jiwan in an appeal to the US Congress members and human rights groups.

She continued, “I begged the whole world to help my father, but nobody listened or helped my father.”

“But I will keep begging the world to help my father,” Jiwan stressed while the tears started welling up in her eyes.

“For God’s sake, help my father⁩.”

Along with Fasfous, there are another 5 hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners starving for freedom in Israeli jails:

•Alaa Al-A’raj (89 days of hunger strike)
•Miqdad Qawasmi (106 days of hunger strike)
•Hisham abu Hawash (80 days of hunger strike)
•Ayyad Harimi (43 days of hunger strike)
•Loay Alashqar (25 days of hunger strike)

Over 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.