Palestinian Jader Adnan Dies After 88-Day Hunger Strike

On Tuesday, 44-year-old Palestinian prisoner Jader Adnan died after spending 86 days on a hunger strike in an Israeli jail. Shortly before being transferred to a hospital on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, he was found unconscious in his cell.

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His hunger strike had begun on February 5, the same day he was arrested and charged with terrorism and incitement to violence as a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PYP).

Since then, his condition had gradually deteriorated, generating the concern of multiple Palestinian authorities who joined the request to release him and transfer him to a hospital.

Adnan, who according to the Israeli Prison Service had refused medical attention in Ramla's Nitzan jail, was undergoing his tenth detention and his fifth hunger strike.

In 2012, he went on a 66-day hunger strike to protest an administrative detention in which the Israeli authorities failed to charge him or allow a trial.

At the time, his protest triggered a massive hunger strike among nearly 2,000 prisoners, making him a symbol of Palestinian resistance in Israeli jails.

Shortly after confirming his death on Tuesday morning, anti-aircraft alarms began to sound in Israeli communities adjacent to Gaza, reporting the launch of projectiles from the enclave.

The Israeli army confirmed the launch of three rockets that hit unpopulated areas, without causing damage or injuries. Later, a military spokesman reported the launch of a new projectile, which landed in an open area near the dividing fence with the Strip,

"We hold Israel responsible for the crime of the murder of the martyr Jader Adnan. The enemy will pay the price for this crime and for all the crimes against our prisoners and our people," warned Mohamed al Hindi, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad political committee in Gaza.

"Using all means and tools, we will escalate all forms of resistance and confront the crimes of the Israeli occupation against prisoners," vowed the Islamist Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, as Palestinians joined a general strike in the West Bank, protests broke out in the town of Arrabeh, where Adnan lived.

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) denounced that his death was a "deliberate assassination" due to the negligence of the Israeli authorities who knew about the deterioration of his health. The PNA demanded an international investigation into the case.

Although hunger strikes are common among prisoners, no Palestinian had died for this reason since 1983, when Isaac Maragha died in a Beersheba jail after being force-fed by the Israeli authorities.

In addition to Adnar, six Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike have died since 1970, most from being force-fed. In 1980, for example, Ali Jafari died from damage to his stomach and lungs caused by tubes to force food into him.

Since 1967, authorities have recorded the deaths of 236 Palestinian prisoners, 75 of whom died as a result of medical negligence.