Palestinian hunger striker Khader Adnan dies in Israeli custody

Last update: May 02, 2023, 12:54 PM HST

Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Khader Adnan gestures as he speaks during a rally in his honor after his release, near the West Bank city of Jenin, July 12, 2015. (Credits: Reuters)

Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Khader Adnan gestures as he speaks during a rally in his honor after his release, near the West Bank city of Jenin, July 12, 2015. (Credits: Reuters)

Khader Adnan, who was awaiting trial, was found unconscious in his cell and taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead after attempting to revive him.

A prominent Palestinian activist died Tuesday in Israeli custody after an 87-day hunger strike, authorities said, the first such death in more than three decades, and tensions around Gaza soared as that his Islamic Jihad faction swears revenge.

Khader Adnan, who was awaiting trial, was found unconscious in his cell and taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead after attempting to revive him, the Israel Prison Service said. He had previously refused medical attention from the service, he added.

Since 2011, Adnan had led at least three hunger strikes to protest Israeli detentions without charge. The tactic has been used by other Palestinian prisoners, sometimes en masse, but the last hunger striker to succumb was in 1992.

A lawyer for Adnan accused Israel of medical negligence.

“We demanded that he be transferred to a civilian hospital where he could be properly monitored (on). Unfortunately, such a request was met by the intransigence and rejection of the Israeli prison authorities,” lawyer Jamil said. Al-Khatib to Reuters.

Adnan, 45, was from Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Islamic Jihad has a limited presence in the West Bank, but is the second most powerful armed group in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

“THE FIGHT CONTINUES”

“Our fight continues and the enemy will realize once again that their crimes will not go unanswered,” the Islamic Jihad, which preaches the destruction of Israel, said in a statement.

Three rockets were launched from Gaza toward Israeli border communities, falling in open areas but triggering sirens that sent residents rushing to shelters, the IDF said

Israel said it was canceling a military exercise on Tuesday that had been scheduled in the Gaza Strip outskirts “in accordance with an assessment of the situation”. In the West Bank, Israeli authorities said a man was injured in a shooting near a Jewish settlement.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for Israel’s reported Gaza rockets or West Bank incident. Israel and Islamic Jihad waged a brief war across the Gaza border in August.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners Association, Adnan has been arrested 12 times by Israel, spending around eight years in prison, most of that time under what is known as “administrative detention” – or detention without charge.

Israel says such detentions are necessary when evidence cannot be revealed in court due to the need to keep intelligence sources secret. Palestinians say they deny due process.

This time, Adnan was arrested and indicted by an Israeli military court on charges that included ties to an illegal group and incitement to violence, the prison service said.

Read all the latest news here

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *