Israeli occupation authorities have re-activated the “administrative detention” of a Palestinian prisoner who has been on hunger strike for 107 days, Kayed al-Fasfous, two weeks after it was paused by caught order.
Khaled, a brother of the detainee, said in media statements given on Friday (29 October) that members of various occupation forces came to Kayed’s room at Barzilai hospital, in Ashkelon, Thursday evening and formally re-activated his detention.
On 14 October, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a decision to pause the detention order issued against al-Fasfous, who is suffering a severe and worsening medical condition.
However, the renewal means that he will be returned to detention until the end of his sentence, on 14 December.
Khaled al-Fasfous has said that Israeli authorities prevented Kayed’s family and lawyers from visiting him.
Kayed, from Dura, in the Hebron governorate, was arrested on 15 October 2020. He has been arrested and detained several times previously. He is married, and the father of one child.
In addition to phosphorous, five other Palestinian prisoners are currently committed to an open-ended hunger strike. They are: Miqdad Al-Qawasmi, who has struck for 100 days; Alaa al-Araj, for 83 days; Hisham Abu Hawash, for 74 days; Shadi Abu Eker, who has been on hunger strike for 66 days, and Ayyad al-Harimi, for 37 days.
In addition to those six prisoners, a larger group of prisoners have maintained their own hunger strike for 20 days at the time of writing, in solidarity with those prisoners protesting the administrative detention.
“Administrative detention” is the practice of detention without charge or trial, as based on files to which neither the detainee nor their lawyers have access. According to military protocol, an administrative detention order can be issued for a maximum of six months, though an order can be renewed an unlimited number of times.
Israel currently holds approximately 4,850 Palestinian prisoners, including 225 children and 41 women, plus 550 administrative detainees, according to Palestinian groups specializing in prisoner affairs.
Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK calledfor the launching of a solidarity campaign with hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners, “in order to make the voices of the prisoners heard by the whole world, and to put pressure on the Israeli occupation authorities to immediately release the striking prisoners, respond to all of their demands, and ensure that they obtain all their rights.”
