After Prolonged Hunger Strike, Palestinian Prisoner Dies In Israeli Prison

Since Palestinian prisoners began staging prolonged hunger strikes about ten years ago, Khader Adnan, a militant from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, is the first to pass away in custody. 

With unrest escalating in the West Bank, his death following an 86-day hunger strike raises the possibility of new conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorist organizations.

Palestinian insurgents in the Gaza Strip launched a barrage of missiles into southern Israel not long after his demise was reported. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip demanded a countrywide strike, and demonstrations were anticipated later in the day.

The Gaza Strip’s Palestinian insurgents launched a barrage of missiles into southern Israel not long after his demise was reported. In the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Palestinians demanded a general strike, and demonstrations were anticipated later that day.

The alert level at those facilities was raised by Israel’s ultranationalist minister in charge of prisons, Itamar Ben-Gvir, in what his office characterized as a preventative move against rioting.

Adnan was reportedly accused this time with “involvement in terrorist activities” by Israel’s prison service, but he refused medical attention while the legal process was ongoing.

His six hunger strikes over the years included a 66-day one in 2012 and two more that lasted 56 and 58 days each in 2015 and 2018. Adnan was freed by Israel following the 2015 attack. He is credited with making Palestinian captives’ hunger strikes a common form of protest and a significant negotiating chip with Israeli authorities.

Adnan was arrested 12 times and spent nearly eight years in Israeli jails, the most of that time under the so-called administrative detention, in which suspects are kept without charge or trial for an unlimited period of time, according to the Palestinian inmates Club, which advocates for former and current inmates.

Israel claims the contentious method aids law enforcement in preventing assaults and detaining dangerous radicals without disclosing damning information due to security concerns.

Due to the secretive nature of the evidence, administrative detainees and their attorneys are unable to mount a defense, according to Palestinians and rights organizations who claim the system is frequently abused and violates due process.

Glamour Adah

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