Watchdog: Palestinian detainee in Israeli jails is at high risk of death
Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Palestinian detainee in Israeli jails, Hisham Abu Hawash, is at a high risk of death as he has been on hunger strike for 122 days in protest against his administrative detention without a charge or trial.
The deputy of the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ and ex-Detainees’ Affairs, Abdul Qadir Khatib, said on Thursday that Abu Hawash’s health condition has been deteriorating severly and he is now at a high risk of death.
The 41-year-old Abu Hawash is held in the clinic of Al Ramleh prison despite the severe deterioration of his health.
On 1, 6, and 8 December, an Israeli Court of appeal in Ofer delayed deciding the case of Abu Hawash (three times).
On 10 December, he was transferred to an Israeli hospital due to his critical health condition. That day, the Israeli court of appeal also delayed his case for the fourth time, claiming it was still waiting for a medical report from the Israeli Prison Service, which had been asked to provide it three weeks ago.
On 12 December, an Israeli court decided to extend the illegal administrative detention of Abu Hawash for four months for the fourth time, as his detention order was renewed three times before for no reasons.
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.
He was confined alone in a locked room in an Israel Prison Service infirmary. In addition to losing considerable weight, he has been having difficulty speaking and communicating, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS).
He has also had trouble drinking water and has felt palpitations with every movement, and he is at risk of sudden death.
Abu Hawash had in the past been sentenced to four and a half years in Israeli prison, before he became a father to five children. He was also placed under administrative detention in 2008 and 2012.
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.
