Israeli Occupation Delays Release of Health-Deteriorated Palestinian Detainee, Khalil Awawda

Jerusalem, MINA – The Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Prisoners Affairs said on Sunday that the Israeli occupation authorities are delaying the release of Palestinian detainee Khalil Awawdeh, 40, from Hebron, amid the deterioration of his health, despite a decision to release him.

The commission’s lawyer, Fawaz Shalodi, said, after his visit to the Israeli Ramle Prison Hospital, that the Palestinian detainee, Awawda, is still in a wheelchair as a result of his hunger strike for more than 6 months, and he suffered from a problem with nerves in the brain and eyes, in addition to difficulty walking on his feet. An imaging of the brain was conducted for him, and it was found that there was a problem in the nervous system.

The detainee, Awawda, had started an open hunger strike last March 3, in refusal of his administrative detention by the Israeli occupation, and he suspended it after 111 days following Israeli promises to set a time limit for his arrest and release.

Days after suspending his hunger strike, a new administrative detention order was issued against him for a period of 4 months. As a result, he decided to go on his hunger strike for a second time, until August 31 last year. Subsequently, an agreement was reached between his lawyer and the Israeli prison administration to release him on October 2, to suspend his strike again.

The commission indicated that the occupation prisons administration, in response to instructions from the Israeli intelligence service, falsified the decision of the agreement to release the detainee Awawda, under the pretext that an indictment would be filed against him.

The commission called on all institutions of the international community to intervene to release the Palestinian detainee, Awawda, knowing that he is married and has 4 daughters, Tolin, Lauren, Maria and Maryam. He is a former detainee who spent a total of 12 years inside the occupation prisons, including 6 years in administrative detention.