Palestinian hunger striking journalist at risk of death: lawyer

Palestinian hunger striking journalist is at "imminent" risk of death after fasting for 77 days in protest of his arrest without charges, his lawyer and a human rights group said Tuesday.

Muhammed al-Qeeq, a 33-year-old father of two and a correspondent for the Saudi al-Majd TV network, is at "imminent risk of death," Amnesty International said in a statement.

Hanan Khatib, al-Qeeq's lawyer, told local media that he is "dying." "As the medical team has noted, he could die at any moment of a heart attack," she said.

Outside the Emek Medical Center in the northern city of Afula, about 150 supporters rallied for his immediate release.

A doctor with Physicians for Human Rights, an Israeli human rights watchdog, visited al-Qeeq on Wednesday.

He reported that al-Qeeq was shackled to his bed although his grave condition doesn't allow him to move and he could barely speak or even hear.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered to temporarily "suspend" the administrative detention due to al-Qeeq's condition.

However, the court rejected a petition to cancel his administrative detention order and ruled that he must stay in Afula.

Al-Qeeq rejected the court's ruling, reiterating his refusal to be treated or fed as long as he is not released.

He was arrested on November 21 at his home in the West Bank village of Dura, near Hebron, and has been under administrative detention ever since.

On November 25 al-Qeeq went on a hunger strike, refusing food and medical treatment.

Palestinian prisoners have used hunger strikes to draw international attention to their so-called administrative detention, an incarceration without charges for renewable periods of six months. Al-Qeek was the first journalist to do so.

As of the end of December, Israel was holding 584 Palestinians in administrative detention, according to official figures. Endit