Palestinian hunger striker for 172 days, Khalil Awawdeh, released from Israeli jails

Palestinian prisoner Khalil Awawdeh, from the southern West Bank town of Idna, who went on a hunger-strike for 172 days to protest his administrative detention, was released today from Israeli imprisonment, today said the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS).

Awawdeh was taken to the Istishari Hospital in Ramallah for medical checkup upon his arrival via al-Jeep Israeli military checkpoint, northwest of Jerusalem.

Awawdeh was supposed to be released on October 2 of last year at the end of his administrative detention order after observing 172 days of hunger strike in protest against his detention for extended periods without charge or trial. Awawdeh ended his hunger strike after he was promised that his administrative detention will not be renewed and that he will be released after serving the time of the detention.

However, days before his intended release, he was charged with “smuggling” a mobile phone he had with him when he was at an Israeli hospital getting treatment for his failed health as a result of the long fast into Ramla prison where he was taken after his discharge from hospital.

The father of four was detained on 27 December 2021 and slammed with a six-month administrative detention order. He has been placed in administrative detention, without charge or trial, ever since.