Palestinian hunger striker dies in Israeli detention

A Palestinian hunger striker died in Israeli custody on Tuesday, nearly three months after being detained over his ties to the Islamic Jihad militant group.

The death of Khader Adnan was swiftly followed by three rockets fired by Gaza militants, which “fell in open areas”, the Israeli army said. It reported no casualties.

Palestinian prime minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, described the death of Adnan, who was arrested in the occupied West Bank, as a “deliberate assassination”.

“By rejecting his request for his release, neglecting him medically and keeping him in his cell, despite the seriousness of his health condition,” the premier said in a statement.

Israel’s prison service announced the death of a detainee who was affiliated to Islamic Jihad.

He was “found early this morning in his cell unconscious,” the prison service said in a statement.

Adnan, 45, was the first Palestinian to die as a direct result of a hunger strike, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.

Other Palestinian detainees have died “as a result of attempts to force feed them”, the advocacy group’s director, Qaddura Faris, said.

AFP