Fawzi al-Junaidi, Mohammed al-Qeeq banned from leaving Palestine by Israeli occupation

Former Palestinian prisoner, long-term hunger striker and journalist Mohammed al-Qeeq was prohibited from traveling outside Palestine for 16 months in a military order, Wattan TV reported on 21 March. Al-Qeeq said that his lawyer was informed by Israeli occupation forces that he was banned from leaving Palestine for the next 16 months, and that the ban may be further extended.

Al-Qeeq noted that he had refused offers to end his hunger strike by deporting him outside of Palestine while imprisoned. He carried out two hunger strikes, one of which lasted for 96 days against his imprisonment without charge or trial. He said that he intended to challenge the order, which was aimed at imposing further restrictions and repression upon a Palestinian journalist and a freed prisoner to suppress the voice of the Palestinian people.

Al-Qeeq is not alone; former child prisoner Fawzi al-Junaidi, 16, known internationally for the image that showed him surrounded, blindfolded, by 23 Israeli occupation soldiers, was prohibited from leaving Palestine to Jordan on 6 March. Fawzi was detained on the King Hussein bridge for eight hours before being returned to al-Khalil with his father. Fawzi’s father told Palestinian media outlet Wattan News that they were on their way to Turkey to receive medical treatment; Fawzi’s right shoulder was fractured when he was beaten by occupation forces after being seized on 7 December in al-Khalil amid widespread protests against U.S. President Donald Trump’s declaration of recognition of Jerusalem as capital of the Israeli occupation state.

He was jailed from 7 to 28 December; Fawzi’s father said that they were not informed of a a travel ban or its duration and is demanding action to allow Fawzi to travel and receive medical care.