Jailed Palestinian reporter wages second hunger strike

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Jailed Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qeeq entered his third day on hunger strike Wednesday to protest his ongoing "administration detention" by the Israeli authorities, a Palestinian official told Anadolu Agency.

"Mohammed is now on his third day of hunger strike after being put back into administrative detention earlier this week," Issa Qraqe, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s detainees committee, said.

On Monday, the Israeli army ordered al-Qeeq to be put back in administrative detention for a six-month period.

"He [al-Qeeq] was arrested last month at a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah on charges of ‘incitement to violence’," Qraqe said.

The journalist was released from Israeli custody in May of last year after waging a 94-day hunger strike to protest his detention.

Under Israel's policy of "administrative detention", prisoners can be held for up to one year without trial or charge.

According to official Palestinian figures, over 7,000 Palestinians are now languishing in Israeli prisons, roughly 700 of whom are being held in administrative detention.