Middle East Monitor / May 3, 2023
Scuffles broke out between protesters mourning the death of hunger striker Khader Adnan and Palestinian Security Forces in the occupied West Bank City of Jenin. The tensions came to a calm conclusion after one of the leaders of the Jenin Brigades, an armed resistance group, agreed to march back to the refugee camp.
The Palestinian Authority security services cracked down on protesters who took to the streets of Jenin yesterday in protest at the Israeli “assassination” of hunger strike Khader Adnan, Safa news agency has reported. The PA security services fired teargas towards the protesters and live ammunition into the air.
Ragheb al-Saadi, the brother of Islamic Jihad official held by Israel, Bassam al-Saadi, was detained by the PA after the protesters were dispersed. Armed Palestinians later opened fire at the PA headquarters in the city of Ramallah. Security officers responded by firing sound grenades and bullets into the air.
“The PA’s aggression against the protesters who got angry with Israel’s assassination of Khader Adnan,” commented an Islamic Jihad official, “is a disgraceful act that we condemn in the strongest terms.”
He called for the PA to hold to account the perpetrators of the attack and those who “extinguished the popular anger over the crime against Sheikh Khader Adnan.”
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ICRC urges Israel to release Palestinian detainee’s body
Middle East Monitor / May 2, 2023
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on Tuesday, called on the Israeli authorities to release the body of Palestinian hunger striker, Khader Adnan, Anadolu News Agency reports.
Adnan, a senior Islamic Jihad group member, died in prison on Tuesday, after 86 days of hunger strike in protest of his detention.
“We call on the Israeli authorities to release Mr. Adnan’s body, so his family can mourn and arrange a dignified burial according to their customs and beliefs,” the ICRC said in a statement.
“The ICRC stands ready to support the return of Mr. Adnan’s body, should it be asked to do so by the involved parties, in accordance with our exclusively humanitarian mandate,” it added.
The ICRC said its teams had visited the Palestinian detainee several times during his last arrest in February to monitor his condition.
There were no announcements or arrangements yet by the Israeli authorities to release Adnan’s body.
Adnan was repeatedly detained by Israeli forces and had staged multiple hunger strikes to protest his detention.
The 44-year-old, from the town of Arraba, west of Jenin, started his hunger strike on 5 February to protest his detention by the Israeli authorities.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society NGO, an Israeli military court, last month, rejected a request by Adnan’s lawyer to release him on bail while he was on the 78th day of his hunger strike.
In 2012, Adnan staged a 66-day hunger strike in protest of his detention, forcing the Israeli authorities to release him. He staged similar hunger strikes in 2015 and 2018.
