After 61 days of hunger strike in an Israeli prison, Palestinian youth Ghazanfar Abu Atwan is in poor health. | Photo: @adham922
Ramallah, July 5 (RHC)-- According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Affairs Committee, the young Ghazanfar Abu Atwan shows this Monday a serious deterioration of his health, after 61 days on hunger strike while imprisoned in an Israeli jail.
The director of the institution, Qadri Abu Bakr, reported in a statement that Abu Atwan suffers from numbness in his extremities and severe fluid shortages, so he may pose a real threat to his vital organs.
According to the official, Israel is practicing slow murder. Also, Abu Bakr called for the immediate release of the Palestinian and urged the international community and human rights bodies to intercede in the case.
Meanwhile, the commission's spokesman Hassan Abed-Rabbu explained to a local news agency that Abu Atwan has permanent fatigue and headaches. He added that he has lost more than 15 kilograms of weight and suffers from tachycardia, as well as inability to speak and move.
Atwan was arrested in October 2020 in the dura zone. He is one of thousands of Palestinians imprisoned under the pretext of administrative detention, used by Tel Aviv to keep West Bank and Gaza Strip residents in prison without trial or procedure for months and years.
After his last arrest, Atwan was given a six-month prison sentence under the pretext of administrative detention, and of when he was about to finish the term he was given a similar one, for which he motivated the hunger and thirst strike to protest against the continuing Israeli occupation.
"To all the Palestinian people, young and old, to the president, to the Palestinian leadership, to international and human rights institutions and to national and Islamic forces. My life is vanishing before my eyes," the prisoner previously wrote in a message.
Last week, Palestinian Health Minister Mai Al-Kaila urged the international community, human rights organizations and the Red Cross to pressure the Israeli government for his release.
