Wednesday, January 05, 2022
Drawn after 141 days
Palestinians set free after hunger strike
The Palestinian Hisham Abu Hawash has been in Israeli administrative detention for more than a year. He’s on hunger strike almost half the time. Most recently, pictures of the emaciated man went through social media. Now he should be released.
After a 141-day hunger strike, a Palestinian prisoner in Israel is set to be released next month. His lawyer Jawad Bolous confirmed on Tuesday evening that there was an agreement with the Israeli side. Hisham Abu Hawash was due to be released on February 26th. Therefore, the 40-year-old can now end his life-threatening hunger strike. The Palestinian Prisoners Association also confirmed the agreement. There were celebrations in front of the man’s house in the West Bank.
The far-right Israeli opposition politician Bezalel Smotrich, however, spoke of a “surrender to terror”. The militant Palestinian organization Islamic Jihad warned on Saturday of an “explosion” and threatened an end to the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip if Israel does not release Abu Hawash. According to Palestinian media reports, Abu Hawash is close to Islamic Jihad.
The father of five comes from Dura near Hebron in the southern West Bank. According to media reports, he has been in so-called administrative detention since October 2020. This enables Israel to hold suspects for six months without formal charge.
Pictures of the bearded man in the hospital bed have been seen on social media for the past few days, looking extremely emaciated and weakened. The Israeli organization Doctors for Human Rights announced on Twitter that an employee had examined the detainee. She reported that his life was “in immediate danger” because of poor potassium levels and possible cardiac arrhythmias.