Israel Denies Freedom to Palestinian Prisoner on Hunger Strike

On Sunday, the Palestinian Society of Prisoners (SPP) informed that an Israeli court rejected a request to release Hisham Abu Hawash, a Palestinian prisoner who has been on a hunger strike for 125 days demanding an end to his administrative detention.

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The Israeli court rejected the request to transfer Hawash to a hospital after the serious deterioration of his health as a result of the hunger strike. The court ruled that the Ramla prison administrators would have to decide whether the Palestinian prisoner is transferred to a hospital or not.

Abu Hawwash, a father of five, was arrested on October 27, 2020 and received three consecutive administrative detention orders, each for six months. During his life, he has spent eight years in Israeli jails "for resisting the occupation", including 52 months in administrative detention without the Israeli state setting charges against him.

The Israeli policy of administrative detention allows the arrest of Palestinians without charge or trial for renewable periods, ranging from three to six months, based on undisclosed evidence that not even a detainee's lawyer can review.

Since the beginning of 2021, more than 60 inmates have gone on hunger strike in protest against this type of detention. In mid-November, Israel promised to release two prisoners who had been on strike for over 115 days.