Hamas demands release of hunger-striking prisoners
Haniyeh calls on Israel and PA to free fasting inmates; some reportedly haven't eaten for over a month
GAZA CITY — The Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday called for the immediate release of hunger-striking prisoners held by Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Gaza’s former Hamas premier Ismail Haniyeh appealed for the release of Khadar Adnan, who was imprisoned without trial by Israel and has been refusing food for about 40 days.
He also called for the release of Islam Hamad, who has been held by Hamas’s rival in the West Bank and has been reportedly on a hunger strike for 63 days.
Adnan is being held in administrative detention, a procedure under which Israel holds Palestinian prisoners indefinitely for renewable six-month periods.
Haniyeh said that Israel “arrests and kills our sons and our brothers, while our brothers use the same means.”
The West Bank-based administration of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is the bitter rival of Hamas, the de facto power in the Gaza Strip, despite repeated reconciliation efforts.
Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007 when it expelled forces loyal to Abbas’s West Bank-based Fatah from the tiny coastal enclave.