Calls mount for Israel to free Palestinians on hunger strike
ABC News
Israel faces growing calls to release five Palestinians who have been on hunger strike for weeks to protest against being held without charge in what’s known as “administrative detention."
JERUSALEM -- Israel faced growing calls on Thursday to release five Palestinians who have been on hunger strike for weeks to protest a controversial policy of holding them indefinitely without charge, including one who has been fasting for 120 days and is in severe condition.
Israel says the policy, known as “administrative detention,” is needed to detain suspects without disclosing sensitive intelligence, while the Palestinians and human rights groups say it denies them due process. Suspects can be held for months or years without seeing the evidence against them.
Palestinians have been holding rallies across the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza in solidarity with the hunger strike and to protest against administrative detention. Prisoners have held a number of hunger strikes in recent years to protest the policy and to campaign for better prison conditions, but the latest appears to be among the most serious.
The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment.