Today, Monday, the Israeli occupation court rejected the appeal demanding the release of prisoner Khalil Awawda, who is on hunger strike.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club said, in a statement, that the Ofer Military Court rejected Awawda's appeal, adding that the detainee - who is currently staying in the Israeli Asaf Harofeh Hospital - suffers from a critical health condition.

The Palestinian Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Authority had warned of the danger that the prisoner, Awawda, who is on hunger strike for the 156th day, would die suddenly, in light of the deterioration of his health.

In statements to Al-Jazeera Net, Dalal Awawda, the wife of the captive Khalil, said - after she was allowed to visit him in the hospital - that her husband is unable to move, speak and see.

She added, "I saw in front of me a skeleton covered with leather, and prominent eyes, and a face without features."

Administrative detention is a decision to imprison by an Israeli military order, alleging the existence of a “secret file” for the detainee, without filing an indictment, and it extends for 6 months that can be extended several times.

continuous strike

The 40-year-old prisoner, Al-Awawda, belongs to a Palestinian village family from the town of “Idna.” In its schools, he received his basic and secondary education. Al-Awawda was arrested on December 27, 2021, and days later he was transferred to administrative detention for 6 months.

On the third of last March, the prisoner began a hunger strike to reject his administrative detention, and suspended his strike after 111 days, following promises to limit his detention and release him.

However, days after suspending his strike, a new administrative detention order was issued against him for a period of 4 months. On July 2, he decided to return to the strike until his demand was fulfilled, and he is still on strike.

Al-Jihad Movement demands the release of the prisoner Khalil Al-Awawda (Getty Images)

The aggression on Gaza

Awawda's name was mentioned in the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, which was concluded on the evening of the seventh of August, ending 3 days of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

At that time, the spokesman of the Islamic Jihad movement, Daoud Shehab, revealed that the agreement with Israel on a ceasefire was brokered by Egypt, after "Cairo promised to work for the release of the two prisoners, Awawda, and the leader of the movement, Bassam Al-Saadi."

For its part, the Prisoners’ Committee of the National and Islamic Forces in Gaza organized a solidarity stand with the prisoner Awawda, and the participants in the vigil warned of the seriousness of the prisoner’s health condition, and held the occupation authorities fully responsible for his life.

They also called on the Red Cross and human rights institutions to assume their responsibilities and pressure the occupation authorities to achieve the humanitarian and legal demands of the Palestinian prisoners.

arrest campaign

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Prisoners Club reported that the Israeli occupation forces launched a campaign of arrests today, Monday, against 27 Palestinians from parts of the West Bank, most of which were concentrated in the towns and villages of Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jenin, and Nablus, and that the detainees were taken to detention centers. The investigation accused him of resisting the occupation.

The Prisoners Club stated that since the beginning of August, about 220 arrests, including children, women, and former prisoners, have been recorded.