Palestinian hunger striker rejects transfer to East Jerusalem hospital

A Palestinian journalist on hunger strike to protest his detention in Israel has rejected a compromise that would have seen him transferred to a hospital in East Jerusalem, saying he will only stop his fast if he is sent to a Palestinian medical facility.

Mohammed al-Qiq had been given until Tuesday morning to decide whether to accept a High Court decision which would allow him to be transferred to East Jerusalem’s al-Makassed Hospital.

Al-Qiq, who was arrested and held by Israel without charge under administrative detention, is currently being treated at Haemek hospital in the Israeli town of Afula in the Lower Galilee.

“There is no difference between Afula and al-Makassed hospital for al-Qiq,” Ahmad Abu Muhammad of the Palestinian Prisoners Society told the Palestinian Ma’an news agency.“If he decides to go to Jerusalem, they will take him, put two or three soldiers by his bed … it will be exactly the same.”

Al-Qiq’s lawyers had petitioned the High Court Monday for him to be transferred to a hospital in Ramallah, under Palestinian control.

But the court rejected the request and recommended he be sent to the Arab-run al-Makassed hospital instead. It added the move was “within the framework of the frozen administrative measures concerning him,” raising the possibility he could be detained again if he ends his hunger strike.

The 33-year-old is reported to be close to death after 83 days of a hunger strike to protest his administrative detention by Israel. Administrative detention allows the state to hold suspects without trial for periods of six months, which can be renewed indefinitely.

The Shin Bet security service says Qiq was detained for terrorist activity on behalf of Palestinian terror group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.

Qiq’s internment was officially suspended on February 4, but he has still been prevented from leaving the Afula hospital where he is handcuffed to his bed.

Qiq, a father of two and a correspondent for Saudi Arabia’s Almajd TV network, was arrested at his home in Ramallah on November 21.

He has been refusing food since November 25 in protest against the “torture and ill treatment that he was subjected to during interrogation,” according to Addameer, a Palestinian rights organization.

The United Nations has expressed concern about his fate, while the International Committee of the Red Cross describes his condition as critical.