Palestinian inmate says will continue hunger strike until Israel cancels his administrative detention

Israeli authorities have decided to freeze the administrative detention order against Palestinian prisoner Hisham Abu Hawwash, who has been on hunger strike for 132 consecutive days in protest at his indefinite, unfair and unexplained imprisonment at the hands of the Tel Aviv regime.  

The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) attorney, Jawad Boulos, reported the freezing of Abu Hawwash's administrative detention on Monday, adding that the 40-year-old Palestinian inmate has decided to continue his hunger strike despite his deteriorating health condition until the order is canceled, Palestine's official Wafa news agency reported.

The PPS noted that the freezing decision does not mean ending Abu Hawwash's administrative detention in any way, but rather means that the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) and  Israel's internal spy agency Shin Bet are no longer responsible for the hunger-striking prisoner's life and fate.  

It also said Abu Hawwash has been transferred to Israel's Assaf Harofeh Medical Center from the infamous Ramla prison infirmary, adding that he would become an "unofficial detainee" where he would be guarded by hospital security instead of prison guards.

The Palestinian inmate could not be transferred to any other hospital, but his family can visit him as any other patient according to the hospital rules, the PPS said.

Prisoners' commission: Palestinian inmate in life-threatening condition after 130+ days of hunger strike

A Palestinian commission for prisoners warns that Palestinian inmate Hisham Abu Hawwash’s health condition has reached a critical stage after more than 130 days of hunger strike.

Israeli courts have previously used the so-called freezing of the administrative detention orders as a trick to convince the detainees to end their hunger strike, particularly when their health condition is worsening, but without actually ending their prison sentences or setting a timeframe for their release.

Earlier this month, the Israeli military appeals court decided to renew Abu Hawwash’s administrative detention for four months despite his deteriorating health condition and rejected a petition submitted for his immediate release.

Abu Hawwash, a father of five children, was arrested in October 2020 and held in an Israeli jail under administrative detention, a form of imprisonment in which the individual is never tried and can be held indefinitely.

He is one of the four prisoners who went on extended hunger strikes against their detention without charge. The other prisoners were Kayed Fasfous, Ayyad al-Harimi, and Lo’ai al-Ashqar.

Last month, 34-year-old Fasfous and Harimi, 28, suspended their months-long strikes after Israeli authorities agreed to set them free.

Fasfous finally walked out of an Israeli jail and returned home to his family on December 5, after refusing to eat for 131 days in protest.

Facing widespread international criticism, the regime has also agreed to free several other Palestinians, who’ve been on lengthy strikes.

Israeli court rejects petition to release Palestinian inmate on hunger strike for 120+ days

An Israeli court reject a petition submitted for the release of a Palestinian prisoner who has been on hunger strike for 125 days.

More than 7,000 Palestinians are reportedly held in Israeli jails. Hundreds of them have apparently been incarcerated under the "administrative detention". Some prisoners have been held in administrative detention for up to 11 years.

Palestinian detainees have continuously resorted to open-ended hunger strikes in an attempt to express their outrage at the detention.

Over a dozen Palestinian lawmakers and nearly 20 journalists are also held in Israeli detention centers, several of them under the same detention policy.

In 2015, Israel approved a law that authorizes force-feeding the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, a practice rejected by the UN as a violation of human rights.

The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as well as many human rights group have frequently expressed serious concern about hunger strikes’ health condition and call for their immediate release.

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