Israel: court rejects release of Palestinian hunger striker

Israel’s Supreme Court rejected a second petition on Tuesday for the release of a Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike for nearly six months, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society has confirmed. The decision was made despite the severe deterioration of Khalil Awawdeh’s health.

Awawdeh, 40, was detained by Israeli forces in December and placed under administrative detention, prompting him to go on hunger strike. Such detention is indefinite, with neither charge nor trial.

“The court said that the defence team did not provide any new evidence to change an earlier decision and release him,” explained defence lawyer Ahlam Haddad.

On 19 August, an Israeli military court temporarily suspended Awawdeh’s detention to allow him to receive medical care. A video of the detainee was shared by Samidoun Network on Twitter on Monday, which showed starkly the toll that his detention and hunger strike have taken on his body.

The Israeli occupation authorities transferred Awawdeh to hospital earlier this month as his health deteriorated. Egypt had said that it would seek to have him released along with Islamic Jihad leader Bassam Al-Saadi as part of the truce that it brokered to end the recent Israeli military offensive against the Gaza Strip.

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