Al-Qeeq suspends hunger strike, reaches agreement for his release

Palestinian journalist Muhammad Al-Qeeq has suspended his hunger strike after reaching an agreement with Israeli authorities for his release, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) reported today.

Al-Qeeq will now be released from prison in mid-April, though an exact release date has not been agreed.

The journalist began his hunger strike on 6 February in protest against being held under administrative detention – Israel’s widely condemned policy of holding prisoners without charge or trial.

On Wednesday, Israeli authorities moved him to the Assaf Harofeh Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, following a serious deterioration of his health, according to the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs.

Al-Qeeq has lost 12 kilogrammes since he started the hunger strike, has been unable to stand unaided and suffers from severe headaches, dizziness and ophthalmia (inflammation of the eye).

Read: Palestinian journalist Al-Qeq ends hunger strike

The thirty-four-year-old who lives in Ramallah and is originally from Dura in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron, was released from prison in May last year after he refused food for a gruelling 94 days – also in protest of his administrative detention at the time.

He was rearrested in mid-January after he participated in a protest in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem demanding the release of bodies of slain Palestinians held in Israeli custody.

According to Addameer, as of January, 6,500 Palestinians were being held in Israeli prisons, 536 of whom were being held under administrative detention.