A Palestinian political prisoner has ended a 113-day hunger strike after Israeli authorities agreed to release him at the end of his current administrative detention order in February, the Palestinian Prisoners Media Office – Asra Media – confirmed on Thursday.
Miqdad Qawasmeh is a 24-year-old university student who has spent around four years in Israeli prisons on separate occasions since 2015. Last January, he was arrested again and detained without charges based on ‘secret information’, under Israel’s so-called administrative detention.
In late July, Qawasmeh began an open hunger strike to protest the renewal of his six-month detention order and to demand his release. He was then transferred to the Israeli prison clinic in Ramleh, then to the Israeli Kaplan hospital following a serious health deterioration.
After 113 days, Meqdad Qawasmeh suspended his hunger strike in an agreement to be released in February. pic.twitter.com/JZnXigGLMV
— Abéd (@tiredpali) November 11, 2021
Qawasmeh was reported to suffer vision problems, constant pains, low heart rate and inability to move. In late October, his mother reported that Israeli medics forcibly injected nutrients into his body through an IV drip.
Omar Qawasmeh, Miqdad’s father, told a local radio on Thursday that “the family was overwhelmed with joy” upon receiving news of Miqdad’s deal to end his hunger strike that “was close to ending his life”.
Qawasmeh’s father added: “This has been a very painful experience. We hope that the hunger strikes of the rest of detainees will reach their end as well”.
Administrative detention policy is a crime against humanity as 'Israel' has been using it to allow the arrest of Palestinians indefinitely based on “secret information” without a charge or trial.#FreeThemAll pic.twitter.com/XIa9FinHHE
— Aya Isleem
#Gaza (@AyaIsleemEn) November 4, 2021
Five other detainees are currently on hunger strike protesting their administrative detentions. The longest-running is that of 32-year-old Kayed Fasfous, who has gone 120 days without food. Meanwhile, 34-year-old Alaa Al-Aaraj is on his 95th day of hunger strike, 39-year-old Hisham Abu Hawash has done 87 days, 28-year-old Ayyad Hraimi is on his 54th day and 45-year-old Louay Al Ashqar has not eaten for 31 days.
According to Palestinian human rights groups, around 500 Palestinians are currently held under Israeli administrative detention.
(The New Arab, PC, Social Media)
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