UN experts say Adnan’s death shows Israel’s ‘cruel and inhumane detention policy’

Adnan, a senior Islamic Jihad official, died in prison after more than 85 days on hunger strike

May 4. (EUROPE PRESS) –

United Nations experts have indicated that the death in prison of a senior Islamic Jihad official after more than 85 days on hunger strike is a “tragic” example of the “cruel and inhuman detention policy” on the part of the Israeli authorities. , while they have demanded that there be accountability.

Jader Adnan, 45, died in prison early Tuesday after nearly three months on hunger strike against Israel’s administrative detention policy, which allows authorities to detain suspects without charge or trial for renewable intervals that usually range from between three and six months.

“The death of Jader Adnan is a tragic testimonial to Israel’s cruel and inhumane detention policies and practices, as well as the international community’s failure to hold Israel accountable for cruel illegalities perpetrated against Palestinians,” they said. experts, who have recalled that the man had been arrested more than a dozen times in the past and spent nearly eight years in prison, most of the time under administrative detention.

The experts have noted in their statement that there are currently some 4,900 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, including 1,016 under administrative detention, the highest number since 2008. Over the past few years, many Palestinian prisoners have resorted to hunger strikes to protest against this figure and his detention conditions.

“We cannot separate Israel’s prison policies from the colonial nature of its occupation, aimed at controlling and subjugating all Palestinians in the territory that Israel wants to control,” they denounced, while stressing that administrative detention “is equivalent to a war crime”.

For this reason, they have stressed that the international community must hold Israel accountable for its actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. “How many lives must be lost before there is an ounce of justice in the Occupied Palestinian Territories?” they have asked.

Israel’s prisons are controlled by the far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who promised after taking office in December that he would more strictly address the situation of prisoners and detainees on charges related to Israel’s security, including those accused or convicted of terrorism.

Following Adnan’s death, Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) threatened Israel and shortly thereafter several projectiles were fired from the Gaza Strip, leading to a series of Israeli tank and aircraft attacks on the Palestinian enclave.

The incidents resulted in the death of one Palestinian and five wounded, in addition to three foreigners wounded in Israeli territory, although the Israeli authorities and the Palestinian armed groups agreed to a ceasefire early on Wednesday after mediation by the UN, Egypt and Qatar.