Israel frees Palestinian hunger striker

Israel overnight released a Palestinian prisoner who staged a 56-day hunger strike while being detained for a year without charge, a spokeswoman said Sunday.

"Khader Adnan, who was in administrative detention, has been released," Sivan Weizman, a spokeswoman for the Israel Prison Authority, told AFP.

Adnan, 37, had been held for a year under administrative detention, which allows imprisonment without charge for renewable periods of six months indefinitely.

His hunger strike, which had brought him near death by the time it concluded last month, had sparked warnings from the Palestinian government that it held Israel responsible for his fate.

Adnan ended his hunger strike on June 28 after Israel agreed to release him, at which point he was transferred to an Israeli hospital.

He was detained a year ago, shortly after the kidnapping and murder of three young Israelis, which triggered the arrests of hundreds of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

He had previously gone on hunger strike for 66 days in 2012 to protest against his detention. He was released at the end of the protest, during which he had ingested vitamins and salt.

This time, he refused to swallow anything except water.

The Palestinian government had warned it held Israel responsible for his fate, while the Israeli government in mid-June renewed efforts for legislation that would allow prisoners to be force-fed when their lives are in danger.

The Palestinian leadership submitted a report to the International Criminal Court last week that included the treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Source: AFP