After 86 days on hunger strike, Palestinian prisoner dies in Israel jails

Sheikh Khader Adnan was announced dead by Israeli authorities this morning after 86 days on hunger strike in protest against his illegal administrative detention.

Adnan, a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement in the occupied West Bank, was found unconscious in his cell at the Israeli prison of Nitzan, and was declared dead at Assaf Harofeh Hospital.

The 45-year-old father of nine started his hunger strike on 5 February following his unjustified detention by the Israeli occupation. Adnan also “refused to undergo medical examinations and receive medical treatment,” the Israeli Prison Services(IPS) said.

Sheikh Khader Adnan is a resident of the northern West Bank city of Jenin. He has been arrested by the Israeli occupation 13 times, spending a total of eight years behind bars, and launching hunger strikes five times. The first lasted 25 days, the second 67 days, the third 58 days.

He went on a hunger strike for the fourth time in 2018 to protest against his administrative detention – detention without charge or trial – and his strike continued for 54 days. In 2021, he spent 25 days on hunger strike.

The Islamic Jihad pledged to take revenge for his death.

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