Palestinian authorities denounce that two detainees in Israel are in critical condition

July 17 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Palestinian Commission for Detainee Affairs has denounced this Sunday that Raed Rayyan and Jalil Awawdeh are in a critical condition as a result of the indefinite hunger strikes they decided to undertake to protest their status as “administrative detainees”, a figure that supposes in practice indefinite prison and without charge.

Rayyan, 27, from Beit Duqqu, northwest of Jerusalem, has been on a hunger strike for 102 days to protest his detention since November 3, 2021 and is currently convalescing in the Ramla prison clinic.

Awawdeh, 40, from Idna city in Hebron district in the southern West Bank, has been on a hunger strike for 16 days in protest at her prolonged administrative detention.

Last month, Awawdeh broke a 111-day fast after Israeli prison authorities assured her that her administrative detention would not be renewed, but she resumed her hunger strike a week after Israeli authorities reneged on their promise, according to a report from the commission collected by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Israel’s administrative detention policy allows for the detention of Palestinians without charge or trial for renewable intervals that typically range from three to six months, on the basis of undisclosed evidence that not even the detainee’s lawyer can see.

Currently, Israel holds more than 680 Palestinians in administrative detention, in conditions considered illegal by international law.