Report: Palestinian detainee in Israeli jails started hunger strike, but Israelis hid it
Occupied Palestine (QNN)- A Palestinian detainee in Israeli jails has been on an open-ended hunger strike for 30 days, but Israeli investigators hid this from his lawyer, Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) said on Friday.
27-year-old Nedal Balout has been on a hunger strike for 30 days, since the moment of his arrest on October 29, 2021, in protest against his unfair administrative detention without a charge or trial by Israeli occupation authorities.
However, the Israeli investigators hid that he has been on hunger strike from his lawyer, the PPS said.
During this period, the PPS said Balout had been under harsh interrogation circumstances and he was banned from meeting his lawyer.
As according to Israeli military laws, a detainee can be held in interrogations for a total period of 75 days without receiving any official charges. According to these same laws, a detainee can be banned from meeting his/her lawyer for a total period of 60 days. Those detainees, in particular, were held for extremely long periods under interrogation, and were also banned from lawyers’ visits and legal consultation.
When a hearing was held for him lately, Balout appeared to be in a serious health condition, the lawyer said.
Balout, a father of two, is from Bani Naim town in Hebron in the occupied West Bank. He is also a former detainee in Israeli jails.
Along with Balout, there is another two-hunger-striking Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails: Hisham abu Hawash (103 days) and Loay Alashqar (48 days). Their health conditions have been deteriorating severely, as they have been suffering from powerful fatigue, exhaustion, headache, severe weight loss and serious decline in body fluids and vitamins.
About 50 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.
