Palestinian Prisoner Goes On Hunger Strike, Again

A leading member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad group has announced an open-ended hunger strike to protest Israel's extension of his administrative detention for four additional months.



"I received a message from my husband through his lawyer informing me that he is beginning an indefinite hunger strike to protest the extension of his administrative detention in Hadarim prison," the wife of Khader Adnan told The Anadolu Agency.



Adnan was arrested nearly ten months ago near an Israeli military checkpoint in the West Bank city of Jenin.



Israel's policy of "administrative detention" allows it to hold Palestinian prisoners indefinitely without trial or charge.



Administrative detention orders can range from one to six months in length and can be extended by Israeli military courts by up to five years.



Adnan's wife called on international rights organizations to "act in order to put an end the systematic, unjust administrative detention of her husband and other Palestinian prisoners."



She also warned that her husband was suffering from several illnesses as a result of his pervious hunger strike, including gastric problems, joint aches and inflammatory bowel disease.



She went on to note that the prison's administration has placed her husband on solitary confinement.



In February of 2012, a deal was reached between Adnan's lawyers and Israeli prosecutors for his release.



Under the deal, Adnan halted his hunger strike in exchange for his four-month detention being counted from the day of his arrest and a promise by Israeli authorities not to renew his administrative detention.



He was finally released on April 17, 2012.



But Israeli forces re-arrested Adnan last July without leveling any formal charges against him, saying merely that he had been detained for "threatening regional security."



Around 6,500 Palestinians continue to languish in jails throughout Israel, according to official Palestinian figures.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Ramallah