Israeli military court once again detains Palestinian former hunger striker without charge or trial

Huzaifa Halabiya Bader with his daughter, Majdal, after his release from his previous term in administrative detention

Former long-term hunger striker and Palestinian detainee Huzaifa Halabiya Bader was once again ordered to six months in administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial, by the Israeli Ofer Military Court on 25 May 2020. The new administrative detention order comes only five and a half months after he was released in December 2019 from a previous period of imprisonment without charge or trial, during which he conducted a 67-day hunger strike to win his freedom.

Israeli occupation forces raided his hometown of Abu Dis near occupied Jerusalem on 17 May, seizing Bader from his home. He was once again taken from his young daughter Majdal, who was born during his previous imprisonment. Bader, 29, suffers from a number of health concerns, and his imprisonment amid the COVID-19 pandemic is raising even greater alarms. He survived a serious fire in an accident as a young boy, leaving him with burns over the vast majority of his body, and later survived leukemia. As a result, he has consistently required specialized medical treatment, while Palestinian prisoners are subjected to systematic medical neglect and mistreatment inside Israeli jails.

Israeli occupation forces invade occupied Abu Dis on 17 May to abduct Huzaifa Halabiya Bader.

During his previous term in administrative detention, dozens of Palestinian prisoners joined solidarity strikes and refused meals to join the campaign for his release as he carried on a 67-day hunger strike for freedom. His community in Abu Dis maintained ongoing solidarity tents and vigils to demand his freedom, while protesters elsewhere in Palestine and internationally echoed the calls for his immediate release.

He is now one of approximately 500 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial, out of nearly 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners in total. Administrative detention was initially introduced to Palestine by the British colonial mandate and has been embraced by the Zionist regime to arbitrarily detain Palestinians, especially community activists, student organizers and other influential leaders in their community. Administrative detention orders may be issued for up to six months at a time and are indefinitely renewable; Palestinians have spent years jailed without charge or trial as a result.

It is notable that the new arrest and arbitrary imprisonment of Huzaifa Halabiya Bader comes as the Israeli regime – along with its U.S. imperialist partners – plans and promotes the official annexation of even more of occupied Palestine, specifically the fertile Jordan Valley.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network demands the immediate release of Huzaifa Halabiya Bader and all Palestinian prisoners, especially those jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention. Administrative detention is a colonial mechanism aimed to prevent, disrupt and target Palestinian resistance and organizing in any form, removing leaders from their communities as they confront the daily violence of Zionist colonialism, apartheid and occupation. We urge the broadest international solidarity to demand the release of Huzaifa Halabiya Bader and all Palestinian detainees, including building the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions and the isolation of Israel.