Palestinian prisoner ends hunger strike after 70 days

Thirty-five-year-old Hassan Mohammed Al-Aweiwi from occupied Hebron has today ended his hunger strike of 70 days to protest his administrative detention in Israeli jail.

The prison administration has agreed to release him before the end of the year, six months after his administrative detention order is to come to an end.

The father of three was rearrested in mid-January after being held by occupation twice before. He was originally sentenced to four months in detention but his term was renewed two months ago, causing him to begin his hunger strike. Since he launched his strike in April, Israeli prison authorities have retaliated by putting him in isolation, denying family visits and transferring him to different prisons.

Many prisoners have taken to hunger strikes to protest their detentions and poor prison conditions, with up to 1,500 striking in April, just before Israel’s general election took place.

READ: 3 Palestinian prisoners continue hunger strikes against detention

Al-Aweiwi was transferred to Barzilai medical centre on Thursday after his health worsened. Over this two-month period, he has lost 22 kilogrammes in weight and cannot walk or talk properly.

He has spent three years in Israeli prison, mostly in administrative detention – imprisonment without charge or trial.

Currently, there are around 479 Palestinians, including one woman and two minors, held in administrative detention in Israeli prison facilities, according to Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem.