Three Palestinian prisoners have ended their hunger strike after reaching an agreement with Israeli authorities for their release, a senior Palestinian official said Wednesday.
Advertisement
Brothers Mohammad (25) and Mahmoud Al-Balboul (22): To be released on 8 December 2016 and no renewal of administrative detention after 78 days of hunger strike.
The three prisoners are now in hospital following serious deterioration in their health.
“Issa Qaraqe, head of the Palestinian Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs, said the strikers had notched a “victory” over the Israeli prison system”.
Their hunger strikes were in protest against their internment under Israel’s controversial administrative detention law, which allows suspects to be held for renewable six-month periods without being charged.
The planned release of the detainees was the result of “a great political effort” carried out by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leadership along with local and worldwide human rights groups, he said in a statement.
On Tuesday, scores of Palestinian prisoners in jails throughout Israel had declared an open-ended hunger strike to demand the trio’s release and an end to Israel’s longstanding policy of “administrative dentition”.
The Palestinian official also thanked all those who had expressed their solidarity with the three inmates.
Advertisement
There are around 7,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, of whom about 700 are under administrative detention. A day earlier, the High Court of Justice rejected a petition to cancel al-Qadi’s administrative detention.
