Palestinian prisoner suspends 47-day hunger strike as Israel sets date for his release

Middle East Monitor  /  April 8, 2021

Palestinian prisoner Emad al-Battran last night suspended his 47-day hunger strike after an Israeli pledge to set a time limit for his administrative detention.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, Al-Battran received a pledge from his jailers to release him in July.

As a result of his prolonged hunger strike, Al-Battran is now weak and suffers from physical pains and skin inflammation. The prisoner launched his hunger strike in Megiddo jail before he was transferred to Ramla jail, then to a hospital and recently to an isolation cell in Nitzan jail.

He has been arrested and jailed on numerous occasions and spent ten years in Israeli prisons, mostly in administrative detention, without charge or trial. In 2013, he went on open-ended hunger strike for 105 days to protest administrative detention and later in 2016 for a period of 35 days.