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Hunger striking Palestinian prisoner gives Israel 24h to release him

Xinhua, August 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

Palestinian prisoner who slipped into coma last week after two-month hunger strike has woke up on Tuesday and vowed to resume fasting if Israel did not resolve his case within 24 hours.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club said in a statement that Mohammed Allan declared in front of his doctors that if there is not any solution to his case within 24 hours he will ask for all treatments to stop and will stop drinking water.

A spokeswoman with the Barzilai hospital confirmed that Allan has regained consciousness, adding that he is receiving medications and intravenous fluids.

Since he began his hunger strike on June 16, Allan had been ingesting only water. However, after he lost consciousness on Friday, Doctors have been treating him with infusions of vitamins, minerals and salts to keep him alive.

DETAINED WITHOUT TRIAL

Allan started his hunger strike 64 days ago in protest of his administrative detention, a measure allowing authorities to imprison suspects without charges for renewable periods of six months.

He has been detained since November 2014.

Allan, 31, is a lawyer from the West Bank village of Einabus near Nablus. Israel says he is also a member of the Islamic Jihad, a militant group.

On Wednesday, Israel's top court is scheduled to resume a discussion into a petition for Allan's release on health grounds. The Supreme Court heard argument of both sides on Monday but decided to postpone their decision, asking both sides to try reaching a compromise.

Shortly before the discussion was opened, Israel's Justice Ministry extended an offer to release Allan in exchange for his exile for four years. Allan's lawyers rejected the offer immediately.

NEW LAW TO FORCE-FEED PRISONERS

Israeli authorities have previously threatened to apply a new law allowing force-feeding of prisoners on hunger strike.

However, the measure has not been enacted yet, as Palestinians and Israelis have been holding demonstrations against Allan's force-feeding since Friday.

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails regularly go on hunger strikes, especially those held under administrative detention.

The Israeli government is deeply concerned that Palestinian prisoners who go on hunger strikes die in prison, instigating a wave of protest in the West Bank.

The forced-feeding law was approved less than a month after Israel was compelled to release Khader Adnan, a famous former Palestinian prisoner, whose 56-day-long hunger strike brought him to the brink of death.

The law is strongly denounced by international activists and Israel's Medical Association, with the latter considering force-feeding a form of torture and urges doctors not to participate in prisoner-forced-feeding. Endit