News / Palestine

Two Palestinian hunger-striking prisoners in critical condition at Israeli jail

Sunday, 17 July 2022 5:16 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 17 July 2022 5:16 PM ]

A combo photo by Palestinian media shows detainees Ra'ed Rayyan, left, and Khalil Awawdeh currently held in Israeli jails.

The health condition of two Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails is critical after a weeks-long hunger strike in protest against the Tel Aviv regime’s administrative detention.

Ra’ed Rayyan, 27, who is from the village of Bayt Duqu near the occupied al-Quds, has been on hunger strike for 102 days, Palestine’s official Wafa news agency reported on Sunday. Rayyan, currently held at a clinic in the notorious Ramla Prison, is said to be suffering from serious health complications.

The other prisoner, Khalil Awawdeh, 40, from a town around the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron), has been on hunger strike for more than two weeks. Last month, Awawdeh broke a 111-day fast after being reassured by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) that his administrative detention will not be renewed. But he resumed the hunger strike a week later after the Israeli authorities reneged on their promise. He was reported to be suffering from headaches, fatigue, blurry vision, joint pain, irregular heartbeat, frequent vomiting and significant loss of weight.

Awawdeh, a father of four is currently detained at the Israeli hospital of Assaf Harofeh.

Israel has been warned of the worsening health condition of the two prisoners as they are facing an imminent threat to their lives.

Palestinian activists say Israel “is practicing slow killing” of Palestinian prisoners through “medical negligence.”

There are thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Human rights organizations say Israel violates all the rights and freedoms granted to prisoners by the Geneva Convention.

Official: Israel warns to deny Palestinian prisoners treatment if strike not called off

Rights groups describe Israel’s use of administrative detention as a “bankrupt tactic” and have long called on Israel to end it.

Palestinian detainees have continuously resorted to open-ended hunger strikes in an attempt to express outrage at detentions.

Israeli jail authorities keep the Palestinian prisoners under deplorable conditions lacking proper hygienic standards. Palestinian inmates have also been subject to systematic torture, harassment, and repression.

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