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Hunger striking Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jail to "die at any moment"

Xinhua, February 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

A Senior Palestinian official warned on Saturday night the Palestinian prisoner who has been on a hunger strike for 75 days in an Israeli jail is in "critical" condition.

The prisoner, a journalist named Mohamed al-Qiq, is "very crucial and critical," and "contacts on high levels are held with all concerned parties at this time in order to rescue his life," said Eassa Qaraqe'a, head of the Palestinian prisoners' corporation in Palestine Liberation Organization.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian lawyer of the corporation, Heba Masalha, who is currently at the Israeli Hopsital where al-Qiq is admitted, said he is currently fighting death.

Al-Qiq is infected with worrying spasms, shortage of breath and severe persistent dizziness, and "his life is currently at an unprecedented danger," said Masalha, adding that the doctors said he "was to die at any moment."

Masalha called for urgent and immediate intervention and more pressure on the Israeli government to rescue al-Qiq.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Corporation held the Israeli government fully responsible for the situation, blaming on the Israeli administrative detention which would detain a suspect in prison without a trial or charges.

On Thursday, al-Qiq decided to carry on with his hunger strike after an Israeli court suspended his administrative detention but refused to let him leave the hospital.

Al-Qiq, 33 from the West Bank city of Hebron, was a reporter for a Saudi Arabian TV station. He was arrested on Nov. 21, 2015, and started an open-ended hunger strike a few days later. Endit