Tel Aviv, August 30 (RHC)-- An Israeli court has postponed the trial of a Palestinian prisoner who has been on hunger strike for eighth consecutive days in protest against his arbitrary detention. According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, the court has extended the detention of Maher al-Akhras until next Wednesday, citing the need for more time to complete investigations into a case against him. This is the second time the court extends his detention.
Al-Akhras, a senior member of the Islamic Jihad resistance group, started his hunger strike last Wednesday, according to Mohjat al-Quds Foundation, a Palestinian NGO. This Wednesday, dozens participated in a solidarity demonstration in front of the Salem Military Checkpoint inside the West Bank to protest his administrative detention in Israeli jails.
The Mohjat al-Quds Foundation, citing a letter by al-Akhras, said on Tuesday that he is currently in a solitary confinement in the al-Jalama detention center. He pointed out in his message that he suffered from "a number of diseases before his arrest and refuses to take medicines, holding the Israeli prison administration responsible for his life."
Al-Akhras indicated that he was subjected to insults, offensive language, and death threats during an interrogation by one of the Israeli investigators, according to Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen news channel.
Al-Akhras was previously held under the so-called administrative detention in the occupation jails in 2009 for 16 months. He was also arrested in 2018 and then again in 2020. In 2020, he went on hunger strike that lasted 103 days, eventually leading to his liberation in November of that year.
Nearly 5,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, many of them under the so-called administrative detention. That’s a policy the regime pursues to keep Palestinians behind bars without any charge or trial.
Earlier this year, Khader Adnan, a top member of the Islamic Jihad, passed away in Israeli custody after nearly three months of hunger strike over his illegal detention. The death of Adnan sparked a five-day conflict between Israeli forces and resistance groups in Gaza.
