Islamic Jihad leader dies in Israeli custody after 86-day hunger strike

On Tuesday morning, Palestinian prisoner and senior Islamic Jihad leader Khader Adnan died in Israeli prison after an 87-day hunger strike protesting his detention.

According to an Israeli newspaper, Adnan was found unconscious in his cell after entering the 86th day of his hunger strike.

It added that after monitoring his condition and conducting a medical examination, he was transferred to a hospital where he passed away.

On February 5, 2023, Adnan declared an open hunger strike from the moment of his arrest, after Israeli forces stormed his house near the city of Jenin.

Adnan spent nearly eight years in detention with over 12 arrests, during which he carried out six hunger strikes.

This is his longest hunger strike compared to his previous five hunger strikes.

Israel ‘to pay the price’

Palestinian Islamic Jihad warned Israel after Adnan’s death that it will “pay the price for this crime”.

“The free hero, Khader Adnan, died as a martyr in a crime committed by the enemy in front of the world,” the group said in a statement.

Hamas also vowed to avenge Adnan’s death, dubbing it an “assassination.”

“We hold the criminal occupation and its fascist extremist government fully responsible for this premeditated crime,” Hamas said in a separate statement. “The criminal occupation will pay the price for this crime.”

Rockets fired from GazaThree rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip toward southern Israel on Tuesday morning, just hours after Palestinian Islamic Jihad official Khader Adnan died after a three-month-long hunger strike in Israeli custody.

The rockets landed in open areas near the Gaza border. The Iron Dome was not activated. Additionally, a mortar fired from the Gaza Strip fell near the border fence on Tuesday morning, according to the Jerusalem Post.

‘Icon of struggle’

Jamal Huwail, a leader from the Fatah party in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, described Adnan as an “icon of struggle and resistance for the coming generations”.

According to Al Jazeera, Huwail said: “This criminal Zionist occupation cannot be resisted except with perseverance, patience, resistance and confrontation.”

“I think what happened to Khader Adnan is an implementation of the current Israeli government’s policies, especially Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is responsible for the prisons and who has made matters more difficult for our prisoners. The occupation tried to send a message by assassinating Khader Adnan — a message of deterrence — to our heroic prisoners.”

Huwail said the upcoming days “will be filled with a response to this occupation and the way it is treating our prisoners”.

According to reports, Israeli authorities were withholding the release of Adnan’s body to his family and had made no announcement of when it will be released.

Source » jordannews