The Palestinian leader of the militant group dies in custody in Israel

2023-05-02 16:20:24, Kosova & Bota CNA

Khader Adnan, leader of the Islamic Jihad militant group, died on Tuesday in an Israeli detention facility after a nearly three-month hunger strike. The news was announced by Israel's prison service. His death comes at a time of rising tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.

Khader Adnan has been organizing prolonged hunger strikes for more than a decade, a new form of protest against mass detentions of Palestinians by Israeli authorities, without charges or trials. On Tuesday, the 45-year-old became the first long-term hunger striker to die in Israeli custody.

Palestinians called for a general strike in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Protests are also expected later in the day. Palestinian militants launched a barrage of rockets from Gaza towards the empty fields of Israel. In a statement from the Islamic Jihad militant group, it was said that "the war will continue and will not stop".

Khader Adnan's death comes as Israel is led by one of the most conservative governments in the country's history. Prisons and Palestinian prisoners are overseen by Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultra-nationalist politician, who has taken measures to tighten restrictions on prisoners, including shortening the time they spend in the shower and closing bakeries inside the prison.

Mr Ben-Gvir said on Tuesday that prison authorities should show "zero tolerance for hunger strikes and riots in high-security prisons", and ordered that prisoners be kept inside their cells.

As Israeli-Palestinian violence has increased, the number of people detained without charge or trial has risen to more than 1,000 over the past year, the highest figure in two decades.

For detainees of this nature, hunger strikes are often a last resort. Some have staged hunger strikes that last for months, often putting their lives at risk. Previous Israeli governments have sometimes acceded to some of their demands to avoid deaths in custody.

This time, warnings about the deterioration of Khader Adnan's health were ignored, said representatives of the organization "Doctors for Human Rights of Israel".

The organization and Mr. Adnan's lawyer said they had asked the Israeli authorities to transfer him to a hospital for treatment. The rights group said a doctor who had visited Mr Adnan a few days earlier had warned that his life was in danger.

Islamic Jihad spokesman Dawood Shahab said that the death of Khader Adnan constitutes a criminal offense, and accused the Israeli authorities of full and direct responsibility for the case./ VOA