PALESTINIAN PRISONER ON HUNGER STRIKE FOR 24 DAYS

Jenin, 19 Dzulhijjah 1435/13 October 2014 (MINA) – A Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail has been on hunger strike for 24 days in a row in protest against being held without charge or trial for nearly a year, a rights group said in a statement.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society in Jenin said in a statement that 35-year-old Raed Moussa was detained in Jenin on Nov. 29, 2013 and sentenced to six months of administrative detention.

Moussa’s detention was then extended for four more months, the PPS statement said, according to Ma’an News Agency reports monitored by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA), Monday.

The prisoner then started an open hunger strike for 34 days, until he was promised there would be no more extensions to his administrative detention.

He restarted his strike in September when the Israeli Prison Service re-sentenced him for another four months of administrative detention.

Moussa is now being held in solitary confinement in Ktziot prison in the Negev desert.

He has spent a total of seven years in Israeli jails in separate periods.

The policy of administrative detention, which dates back to the British mandate period, allows Israel to hold Palestinian prisoners indefinitely without trial on the basis of secret information.

According to PPS, the number of Palestinian prisoners held in administrative detention has doubled since the beginning of 2014. There are now 500 Palestinians held in administrative detention, some of whom are members of the Palestinian parliament.

In April, Palestinian prisoners launched a mass hunger strike, demanding an end to administrative detention. The strike lasted two months, and grew to around 270 prisoners, but failed to affect the Israeli policy. (T/P002/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)