Prisoner to end hunger strike after 66 days

The Justice Ministry announced on Tuesday afternoon it would release Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan in April. As a result of the announcement, he will end his two-month-old hunger strike effective immediately.

Adnan agreed to end the strike after the Attorney General’s office told the High Court of Justice it would release Adnan on April 17, exactly four months after he was detained.

Adnan was arrested on December 17 and launched the hunger strike a day later in protest of Israel’s policy of administrative detention. Adnan also claimed he was beaten and humiliated in captivity.

According to the agreement reached Tuesday, the days of captivity prior to the ruling will be considered part of Adnan’s four month sentence.

The ministry said that if “no new additional substantial evidence” emerges against Adnan, he will be released on April 17, when a current, four-month detention order is to expire. It said that Adnan had agreed, through his attorney, to end the hunger strike.

Adnan, 33, attracted widespread attention among Palestinians, with thousands of West Bank and Gaza residents holding regular protests supporting him.

Adnan, a member of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group, is protesting the fact that he is being held without being formally charged. He claims he does not know what he is suspected of.