Status: 04.01.2022 10:42 a.m.
The Palestinian Abu Hawash is in Israeli detention over security concerns. He threatens to die of his hunger strike – in a politically sensitive phase where tensions between Israelis and Palestinians are increasing again.
A cell phone video shows a thin man with a full beard. He lies motionless in a hospital bed, with two children standing next to him crying. They are said to be the man’s sons. The man, the Palestinian Hisham Abu Kawash, has been on hunger strike for about 140 days and has since been taken from an Israeli prison to an Israeli hospital.
According to his supporters, the 40-year-old could soon die. The Israeli hospital he is in said his condition is very poor. Exact statements are difficult, however, because the Palestinian and those around him refuse to carry out more detailed investigations by the Israelis.
Hisham Abu Hawash was arrested about 14 months ago in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israel’s domestic intelligence service claims the man is a member of Islamic Jihad, which Israel, the US and the EU classify as a terrorist organization. There is danger from Abu Hawash. However, Israel did not provide precise evidence. In addition, the man was not charged at all. The fact that he was imprisoned anyway is due to what is known as administrative detention: This allows Israel to detain Palestinians without charge and without regular court proceedings.
Rocket fire from Gaza
Detention without charge and without published evidence: Hisham Abu Hawash is protesting against this with his hunger strike. And protests in the Palestinian Territories demanding his immediate release are mounting.
The International Red Cross has also intervened. The Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas announced that Israel would be responsible if Abu Hawash died. Islamic Jihad, on the other hand, literally threatened an “explosion” in this case.
The threat is relevant as tensions between the two sides had recently increased after weeks of relative calm. Over the weekend, two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards the sea off Tel Aviv. No one was harmed, but Israel speaks of a serious event. There is speculation that Islamic Jihad is behind the rocket fire.
Encouragement from Knesset MPs
The prisoner on hunger strike also receives support from the Arab-Israeli Knesset MP Aida Touma-Sliman. “Administrative detention is a great crime. The Israelis, citizens of this state must not allow this crime to lead to a man’s death because he is fighting for his freedom on their behalf,” she says.
She called for pressure to be put on the Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz to end the administrative detention.
Israel’s administrative detention without charge is highly controversial internationally. The country defends the practice: it is necessary to keep people who pose a risk in detention and at the same time not to publish sensitive intelligence of the secret services.