Adal and Ahmad Musa, two Palestinian prisoners and brothers jailed without charge or trial by the Israeli occupation regime, have relaunched their hunger strike on 5 December 2022 after both of their detention orders were renewed, despite both brothers concluding agreements for their release in order to end their prior hunger strikes. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges action and solidarity to demand the immediate release of the Musa brothers and all Palestinian prisoners.
The Musa brothers launched their original hunger strike on 6August 2022, immediately after they were seized by Israeli occupation soldiers from their homes in Al-Khader, near Bethlehem in occupied Palestine. Ahmad Musa, 44, and Adal Musa, 34, were ordered to administrative detention — imprisonment without charge or trial — shortly thereafter, with Ahmad ordered to 4 months in administrative detention and Adal ordered detained for 3 months.
Both were previously detained; in 2019, Ahmad Musa launched a hunger strike for 29 days against his administrative detention without charge or trial. Adal has previously spent 7 years in occupation prisons, including 5 years in one sentence. Ahmad is married and the father of seven children, while Adal is also married and a father of two.
Ahmad Musa, who suffers from a heart condition, suspended his hunger strike after 33 days, on 8 September 2022, with an agreement for his release on 6 December 2022. Four days later, Adal Musa suspended his hunger strike after 37 days, with an agreement for his release on 6 November 2022. Both were to be released upon the expiration of their original administrative detention orders; Adal Musa’s detention order was renewed in November, and today, Ahmad and his family were informed that his detention would also be renewed, sparking the brothers to begin their hunger strike once more.
Hanadi Musa, Ahmad’s wife, told Muhja al-Quds that both brothers’ detention was extended for an additional four months. “We cannot leave them alone to confront this, and all must join efforts to stop this latest crime,” she said.
Sheikh Khader Adnan denounced the actions of the Israeli occupation, which claimed that there are now “confessions against” the two brothers, noting that this is a “failed attempt to cover up their blatant repudiation of the written agreement with the prisoners and their lawyers….what has happened with brother Ahmad Musa is a dangerous precedent..their return to the strike is a demand for immediate freedom,” he said.
This is only the latest example of the Israeli occupation regime suddenly repudiating agreements for the release of Palestinian hunger strikers. In other recent cases of what appears to be a policy targeting hunger strikes, Raed Rayan‘s administrative detention was renewed, while Khalil Awawdeh was accused of attempting to smuggle a mobile phone from the hospital where he was held after ending his own lengthy hunger strike. Awawdeh is currently detained on these allegations.
What Is Administrative Detention?
Administrative detention was first used in Palestine by the British colonial mandate and then adopted by the Zionist regime; it is now used routinely to target Palestinians, especially community leaders, activists, and influential people in their towns, camps and villages.
There are currently approximately 820 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention, out of 4,750 Palestinian political prisoners.
Administrative detention orders are issued by the military and approved by military courts on the basis of “secret evidence”, denied to both Palestinian detainees and their attorneys. Issued for up to six months at a time, they are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians — including minor children — can spend years jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention. Hundreds of Palestinians have gone on hunger strike to win their liberation from this form of arbitrary detention, which is not only illegal under international law but a form of psychological torture and collective punishment targeting Palestinian families and communities, as detainees are unable to predict or plan for their release.
Download these distributable flyers and posters to highlight the case of Ahmad and Adal Musa and the struggle to free Palestinian prisoners:
- Poster/Sign: Free Ahmad and Adal Musa
- Poster/Sign: End Administrative Detention
- Poster/Sign: Free Hunger Strikers and All Prisoners
- Poster/Sign – End Administrative Detention (with Palestinian Flag)
1. Mobilize actions, demonstrations and creative interventions – Take to the streets to defend the Palestinian people and their resistance! There is a vast depth of support for the Palestinian people everywhere around the world, including inside the imperialist powers. It is our responsibility to act and make it impossible to continue their support for the crimes against the Palestinian people.
2. Build the boycott of Israel – This is a critical moment to escalate the campaign to isolate the Israeli regime at all levels, including through boycott campaigns that target the occupation’s economic exploitation of the Palestinian land, people and resources as well as those international corporations, like HP and G4S, that profit from the ongoing colonization of Palestine.
