Three Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention continue their open-ended hunger strike, facing deteriorating health conditions. The strikers are identified as Sultan Khlaif, Kaid al-Fasfous, and Maher al-Akhras.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, Sultan Khlaif,42, from Jenin, has been on hunger strike for 38 days to protest his administrative detention.
His health has been steadily deteriorating as he is being held in a cell at Ramleh Prison’s clinic.
His condition has worsened significantly, with symptoms including vomiting, blood in his vomit, weakened vision, severe headaches, dizziness, and difficulty standing. He is now reliant on a wheelchair to move.
There are growing concerns about his fate as Israeli prison authorities have applied significant pressure tactics, including eating meals in front of him and sending messages that he is alone and his people will not stand by him.
Engineer Sultan Khlaif began his hunger strike immediately upon his arrest on August 3, 2023.
He was issued an administrative detention order for four months, and he is a former prisoner who had spent years in Israeli detention.
He previously went on a 67-day hunger strike in 2019 in protest of his administrative detention.
Kaid al-Fasfous, a 34-year-old former prisoner from Dura in Hebron, has also been on a hunger strike for 38 days.
He was arrested on May 2, 2023, and has spent approximately 7 years in Israeli prisons.
He engaged in a 9-day hunger strike in late May and early June of the same year and previously went on a 131-day hunger strike in 2019 against his administrative detention.
He is married and a father of a child, currently detained in Negev Prison.
Maher al-Akhras, 52 years old, from the town of Silat al-Dhahr in Jenin, has been on a hunger strike for 18 days.
He is a former prisoner who spent five years in Israeli prisons, with his most recent arrest in 2020. During that time, he launched an open-ended hunger strike lasting 103 days to protest his administrative detention.
He is married and a father of six children, currently detained in Jalameh Prison.
Hunger Strike as a Non-violent Resistance Method
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are held in ‘administrative detention’ – without being charged or even being told what crimes they are believed to have committed. They are denied a full range of basic rights – from family visits to due legal process. For these prisoners, hunger strikes are virtually the only way they have to fight back.
For Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, hunger strikes have become a fixture of prison life. The frequency of hunger strikes is a testament to prisoners’ desperation. They would rather risk death by refusing to eat than accept their abysmal treatment: solitary confinement, humiliating strip-searches, sleep deprivation and beatings.
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