24 administrative detention orders issued in early April; Fouad Bisharat suspends hunger strike

Israeli occupation authorities issued 24 administrative detention orders against Palestinians between 1 April and 8 April, reported Palestinian lawyer Mahmoud Halabi of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club. These administrative detention orders are used to jail Palestinians without charge or trial on the basis of so-called “secret evidence.”

There are approximately 500 Palestinians imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention out of a total of nearly 6,500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. Administrative detention orders are issued for one to six months at a time, but are indefinitely renewable; many Palestinians have spent years on end imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention.

The use of administrative detention as a systematic policy by the Israeli occupation violates international law and has sparked strong resistance from Palestinian prisoners, including a series of hunger strikes. On Sunday, 9 April, Fouad Bisharat, a Palestinian prisoner held since 17 September 2016 under administrative detention without charge or trial, suspended his open hunger strike which he had carried out for 11 days on the basis of a commitment to not renew his administrative detention again. His mother, Mazzouzah Bisharat, told Asra Media that Bisharat, 28, was preparing for his wedding when he was seized and held under administrative detention, the first time he was arrested.

Among the Palestinian prisoners issued administrative detention orders in early April is Kifah Quzmar, the Palestinian student at Bir Zeit University who was seized as he returned to Palestine at the Karameh/Allenby crossing on 7 March. Over 70 international organizations have signed on to a student-initiated demand for his release and an end to the persecution of Palestinian students.

The 24 prisoners issued administrative detention orders are:

1. Mohammed Nasser Alaqimah, from Jenin, 4 months, extension
2. Yousef Abdel-Rahim al-Khatib, from Jerusalem, 6 months, new order
3. Omar Nasser Barghouthi, from Ramallah, 3 months, extension
4. Mustafa Ismail Safi, from al-Khalil, 4 months, extension
5. Itaf Ahmad al-Atrash, from al-Khalil, 4 months, extension
6. Mohammed Ahmed al-Najjar, from al-Khalil, 4 months, extension
7. Mazen Jamal Natsheh, from al-Khalil, 6 months, extension
8. Bajis Khalil Nakhleh, from Ramallah, 3 months, extension
9. Obeida Ahmad Marei, from Qalqilya, 4 months, new order
10. Ibrahim Mohammed Dahbour, from Jenin, 6 months, new order
11. Afif Salameh Awawdah, from al-Khalil, 4 months, extension
12. Kifah Mohammed Quzmar, from Ramallah, 6 months, new order
13. Murad Mohammed Zaghari, from Bethlehem, 4 months, new order
14. Jamal Ibrahim Maslamani, from Tubas, 4 months, new order
15. Mahmoud Hassan Nimr, from Ramallah, 6 months, new order
16. Musa Salem Sawarka, from Bethlehem, 6 months, new order
17. Yahya Hani Jaddo, from Bethlehem, 4 months, new order
18. Mohammed Sahib Kufaisheh, from al-Khalil, 4 months, new order
19. Hamdi Ali Khatatbeh, from Nablus, 4 months, extension
20. Salman Khaled Nassar, from Jenin, 4 months, extension
21. Bajis Mahmoud Suweyta, from al-Khalil, 3 months, extension
22. Abdel-Jaber Mohammed Jarrar, from Jenin, 3 months, extension
23. Sharif Taher Tahayna, from Jenin, 4 months, extension
24. Fadi Mohammed Srour, from al-Khalil, 6 months, extension