Khalil Awawdeh, a Palestinian prisoner ended a hunger strike lasting more than 170 days on Wednesday after Israel agreed to his release in October, his lawyer and the PLO’s commission for prisoners affairs have disclosed.
Awawdeh, 40 undertook a hunger strike soon after she was imprisoned in Israel in December 2021 in protest of ‘administrative detention,’ which is the practice of holding someone without a trial or a court hearing.
According to Ahlam Haddad, Awawdeh’s attorney, who talked to Reuters, he would continue getting care in the hospital up to his discharge on October 2.
Haddad claimed that Awawdeh has survived solely on water for months and forewarned last week that his declining health could cause him to ‘die at any moment.’
Awawdeh will remain in the hospital until he ‘completely recovers,’ according to the prisoners’ committee, which also stated that his health necessitates ‘long-term care.’
Awawdeh is one of numerous Palestinian prisoners who have waged extended hunger strikes over the years in opposition to what is known as ‘administrative detention.’
Administrative detainees are taken into custody based on ‘secret evidence,’ accused of nothing, and denied the right to an attorney in court. They are largely detained for reoccurring periods of six months, which might last for years.
Israel claims that the process enables law enforcement to detain ‘suspects” while they continue to gather evidence, while detractors and rights organizations allege it is often misused and violates the ‘suspects’ due process.
Following three days of Israeli attacks on the beleaguered Gaza Strip, Palestinian rebels from the Islamic Jihad had sought Awawdeh’s release as condition of a truce mediated by Egypt earlier this month. He was not acknowledged as a member of the group.
During the Israeli attacks, at least 49 people died in Gaza, 17 of which were children.
The Israeli military, defense ministry, or prison service did not immediately have any comments to share regarding this issue.
The accord, which came about after weeks of struggle, was lauded as a success by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s spokesperson, Dawoud Shehab.
Awawdeh can now go back to eating as release procedures we being discussed with him.