Israeli court rejects petition to release Palestinian hunger striker

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – Israel’s High Court rejected a second petition on Tuesday to release a Palestinian detainee on hunger strike for nearly six months to protest his indefinite detention without trial or charge.

Khalil Awawdeh, 40, was detained by Israeli forces in December and placed in custody under Israel’s policy of administrative detention.

His defense lawyer Ahlam Haddad said the court rejected a petition to set him free.

“The court said the defense team did not provide any new evidence to change an earlier decision from freezing the detention to release,” Haddad said in statements cited by the Palestinian Prisoner Society NGO.

On Aug. 19, an Israeli military court temporarily suspended Awawdeh’s detention to allow him to receive medical care.

On Sunday, pictures emerged of Awawdeh showing a serious deterioration in his health, as he appeared with a slender body resembling a skeleton as a result of his strike.

As part of an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire that brought a recent Israeli offensive on Gaza to a halt, Cairo said it will seek to ensure the release of Awawdeh and Islamic Jihad leader Bassam al-Saadi.

Israeli authorities transferred Awawdeh to hospital earlier this month as his health deteriorated.

For years, Palestinians jailed by Israel have used hunger strike to demand better living conditions and an end to indefinite detentions.