Israeli rights group: Palestinian man on hunger strike on the verge of death

Israeli rights group B’Tselem reported on Monday that a Palestinian man on hunger strike for nearly 80 days since his detain by Israel in late July is on the verge of death.

Indeed, Maher al-Akhras, 49, was detained next to Nablus and placed in administrative detention, which is a policy that Israel uses for holding suspected militants without charge. The father of six children launched his strike to protest the policy.

The man has been previously detained many times by Israel that accuses him of making relation with the Islamic Jihad militant group, and on Monday, certain 40 people organized an assembly in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah for backing him.

Moreover, Khader Adnan, one of the participating in the assembly, and who has also held a many hunger strikes in Israeli captivity: Our people will not let Maher al-Akhras down. Adnan appealed the international community and Palestinian leaders to pressure Israel about this case, saying: Do more over the coming hours, and added: We are in the critical stage.

According to a statement on the official Wafa news agency, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh required al-Akhras’s immediate release.

While Al-Akhras was transported in early September to Kaplan Hospital, south of Tel Aviv, and his lawyers have demanded on multiple situations Israel’s Supreme Court for his release, including at a hearing on Monday. Whereas, top court of Israel postponed a ruling on Monday’s request, indicating that the case is stilled under review, according to a summary of the hearing seen by AFP that made many efforts to contact his legal team on Monday.

It should be noted that Israel’s administrative detention system, inherited from the British mandate, allows the detention of prisoners for renewable periods of up to six months each, without directing any charges, and Israel declars that the procedure allows authorities to hold suspects and prevent assaults while continuing to gather evidence, however critics and rights groups reports that the system is abused.

According to B’Tselem, almost 355 Palestinians were being held under administrative detention orders as of August, including two minors.