10 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli occupation prisons continue their open-ended hunger strike against the arbitrary “administrative detention” orders.
The hunger-striking prisoners are experiencing deplorable conditions and numerous violations in the Ktzi’ot prison in the Negev desert. All of them are being held under “administrative detention”. Their demands have been ignored.
The striking prisoners are:
- Salim Zaydaat, 40 years-old, from Bini Naiem, near Hebron. Zaydaat is currently on his 28th day of hunger strike, having been detained since February 2020 after entering Palestine ‘48 without authorization and sentenced to four months. After that period, he was administratively detained, with five concurrent orders of between 3 and 4 months made against him. He is a former detainee in Israeli prisons. He is married and the father of five children, the eldest of whom is 17 years-old; the youngest is 4 ½ years-old.
- Mohammed Munir Omar, 26 years-old, from Tulkarm. Omar has been on hunger strike for 26 days. He has been detained since October 2020; Israeli authorities have placed three separate administrative detention orders against him.
- Mujahid Mahmud Hamid, from Silwad near Ramallah, who has been on hunger strike for 26 days, and detained since September 2020 under two six-month detention orders, the maximum length possible. Hamid was previously detained for 9 years in occupation prisons. After 15-month the occupation re-arrested him. He is married; when he was detained, his only son was just one month old.
- Kayd al-Fasfus, 32 years-old, from Dura, near Hebron. Fasfus is on his 25th day of hunger strike. He is a former prisoner in Israeli prisons.
- Raafat al-Darawish, 28 years-old, from Dura, near Hebron. Al-Darawish is on his 25th of hunger-strike. He has been detained numerous times previously. His current period of detention began at the beginning of 2020. He is married with one son. He suffers from a chest illness.
- Miqdad al-Qawasmah, 24 years-old, from Hebron. Detained since January this year, he has been on strike for 18 days in Ofer Prison. He has spent approximately four years in occupation prisons, under both regular sentences and administrative detention orders. He is a university student; his brother has been detained since last March.
- Youssef al-Amer is on his 11th day on a hunger strike. He has been detained since June 2020; he was cleared for release at his last court appearance, but the occupation authorities issued an administrative detention order against him. He has spent 8 years in occupation prisons. Several of his siblings have been arrested, and one of them, Ibrahim al-Amer, is still detained; Ibrahim committed to an 18-day hunger strike in June this year, which he stopped following a promise to limit his administrative detention.
- Ahmed Hamamra, 24 years-old, from Bethlehem. Detained since August 2020, he is on his 7th day of hunger strike. The occupation authorities have issued two administrative detention orders against him, both for a period of 6 months. Hamamra participated in the collective hunger strike of 2017.
- Akram al-Fasfus, 38 years-old, is on his 4th day on a hunger strike. He is a former prisoner. He is the brother of Mahmoud al-Fasfus and Kayed al-Fasfus. He has been administratively detained since October 2020. He is married and the father of four children.
- The prisoner, Mohammad Nawara, is on his 15th day of hunger strike in protest against his solitary confinement. He has been detained since 2001 after receiving a life sentence. He was a minor at the time of his arrest.
Two prisoners, Amjad al-Namoura and Fadi al-Amour, have suspended their hunger strike after an agreement was reached to limit their administrative detention to the current order.
Administrative detention orders mean detention without charge or trial and depend on closed files that neither the detainee nor their lawyer can access. These military orders can be renewed an unlimited number of times; each order’s maximum period is six months.
Palestinian statistics indicate that there are currently 4,850 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons (including numerous children and women), 540 of whom are administrative detainees. A number of them have suffered renewed orders.
Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) has called for a solidarity campaign with those Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike with the demand of their immediate release since their detention and strike represents a threat to their lives.
