Israel frees Palestinian after 56-day hunger strike

An Israeli official said Khader Adnan's deteriorating health and appeals from the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Palestinian Authority had contributed to the decision to release him.

Khader Adnan, a Palestinian prisoner who staged a 56-day hunger strike while being detained for a year without charge by Israeli authorities, kisses his mother as he arrives in the West Bank village oShow more

ARRABA, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES // Israel on Sunday released a Palestinian prisoner who staged a 56-day hunger strike while being detained for a year without charge.

Khader Adnan was greeted to a hero’s welcome in his village near Jenin, in the northern West Bank, that included fireworks, songs and flags for Islamic Jihad – the militant movement to which Israel says he belongs. Residents wore shirts donning Adnan’s picture.

The bespectacled 37-year-old, thin and with a long beard, had been protesting against the controversial procedure allowing detainees to be held indefinitely without charge.

He was released before dawn in an apparent effort to limit attention to the move.

Islamic Jihad congratulated Adnan in a statement for his “victory” and said a celebration was being organised in his village of Arraba for Sunday evening.

His hunger strike, which had brought him near death by the time it concluded last month, had sparked warnings from the Palestinian government that it held Israel responsible for his fate.

Adnan ended his hunger strike on June 28 after Israel agreed to release him. An Israeli official said Adnan’s deteriorating health and appeals from the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Palestinian Authority had contributed to the decision to release him.

He was detained a year ago, shortly after the kidnapping and murder of three young Israelis, which triggered the arrests of hundreds of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

The killings were part of an upsurge in violence in the run-up to the 2014 Gaza war.

Adnan had been held for a year under administrative detention, which allows imprisonment without charge for renewable periods of six months indefinitely.

Of the 5,686 Palestinian prisoners currently held by Israel, 379 are detained under the procedure.

* Agence France-Presse