Khader Adnan Dies in Israeli Prison After Hunger Strike
Khader Adnan, a senior member of the militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad who was charged and indicted with belonging to a terrorist organization, died Tuesday in an Israeli prison after 87 days [also reported as 86 days in some outlets] on hunger strike.
Facts
- Khader Adnan, a senior member of the militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad who was charged and indicted with belonging to a terrorist organization, died Tuesday in an Israeli prison after 87 days [also reported as 86 days in some outlets] on hunger strike.1
- Adnan, who went on hunger strikes shortly after his arrest on Feb. 5, was found unconscious Tuesday morning in his cell at Nitzan Prison and was taken to a hospital outside Tel Aviv, where he was pronounced dead after resuscitation efforts.2
- According to Israeli accounts, the 45-year-old — reportedly the first Palestinian to die as a result of a hunger strike in Israeli detention since 1992 — refused medical treatment, while his family accused Israeli authorities of medical neglect for declining to relocate him to a civilian hospital.3
- Since 2004, Adnan had reportedly been on hunger strike five times, including for 55 days in 2015 to protest his arrest under the so-called "administrative detention," which allows suspects to be held for renewable six-month periods without charge or trial.4
- Adnan, originally from Arraba close to the town of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, was one of more than 1K Palestinians currently detained in Israel without charge or trial, the largest number since 2003, the Israeli human rights group HaMoked claims.5
- Shortly after the announcement of the Palestinian's death, the Israeli military said that several rockets were fired from Gaza into Israeli territory and hit unpopulated areas, indicating a possible further escalation of Israeli-Palestinian violence.6
Sources: 1BBC News, 2The Times of Israel, 3Middle East Eye, 4Guardian, 5Al Jazeera, and 6JNS.
Narratives
- Pro-Palestine narrative, as provided by PressTV. Adnan's death was deliberate murder and reveals once again the true nature of Israel's regime and its prison system. Adnan's death needs to result in an International Criminal Court investigation to hold Tel Aviv accountable for what is the latest in a long list of crimes against leading Palestinian freedom fighters. The international community can no longer turn a blind eye to Israel and must take immediate action to protect Palestinians in Israel's prisons from arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity.
- Pro-Israel narrative, as provided by Israel National News. While the Palestinians are now proclaiming a new "martyr" and have found yet another reason to threaten Israeli security, the international community must not ignore the fact that Adnan was imprisoned because of his membership in the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization. Moreover, while tragic, his death was self-inflicted, as he refused any medical care offered to him. Israel must not allow itself to be blackmailed by terrorists who use hunger strikes as leverage to force their release.
