Israeli court refuses to release hunger striker on brink of death

Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus rally in solidarity with Muhammad al-Qiq on 24 January.
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Charlotte Silver-27 January 2016

Journalist Muhammad al-Qiq is to remain in detention, despite his critical condition after 63 days of hunger strike, Israel’s highest court ruled on Wednesday.

Al-Qiq has consumed nothing but water during his two-month protest of his detention without charge or trial under an administrative detention order issued by an Israeli military court.

Jawad Boulos of the Palestinian Prisoners Society said al-Qiq is partially paralyzed and has trouble speaking. His legal team warned that his organs are at risk of failure any day.

No negotiations

Israel has refused to negotiate with al-Qiq, Boulos said. Instead, Israeli authorities have tried to pressure al-Qiq to end his hunger strike by bringing food to his bedside and denying him access to his lawyer, family and an independent physician.

Al-Qiq’s wife, Fayha Shalash, has been told that her husband’s life is in real danger and he may not survive many more days of hunger strike.

HaEmek hospital, where al-Qiq has been held since late December, has refused independent examination by a doctor with Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, Amany Dayif, director of the group’s prisoner and detainees department, told The Electronic Intifada.    

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