Twelve Palestinian political prisoners are continuing their hunger strikes to bring an end to administrative detention, Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial. Salem Zeidat, the longest-striking Palestinian prisoner, has now gone without food for one month to demand an end to his arbitrary imprisonment, and despite his severe weakness after a month of hunger strike, he was attacked by Israeli occupation prison guards on Tuesday, 10 August inside the Negev desert prison.

Repressive units invaded section 2 of the Negev prison after the detainees held there protested Israeli jailers’ assault on Zeidat, especially in his weakened physical state. These Israeli forces ransacked and destroyed Palestinian prisoners’ belongings during the attack, after which the detainees closed their sections and returned their meals.

Alaa al-Araj, 34, joined the hunger strike against his administrative detention on Sunday, 8 August. He is held in Megiddo prison and has been jailed without charge or trial since June. He has now been thrown into the isolation cells in Megiddo in an attempt to pressure him into ending his strike. In addition to the assault on Salem Zeidat, striking detainees have been blocked from meeting their lawyers and repeatedly transferred from prison to prison, putting further pressure on their bodies.

Four of the hunger strikers, including Ahmad Nazzal, Mohammed Abu Sal and Ahmed Abu Sal, suspended their strikes after reaching agreements to end the administrative detention orders against them or not to renew the orders. Mohammed Nuwwara also suspended his hunger strike against his solitary confinement.

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 540 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention, out of 4,850 Palestinian political prisoners. These 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.

On Wednesday, 11 August, Palestinians in Gaza protested outside the UN High Commission for Human Rights’ office in Gaza in support of the hunger strikers, demanding that international institutions carry out their responsibilities to protect Palestinian detainees and hold Israeli officials accountable in international courts.

Who Are the Hunger Strikers?

1. Salem Zeidat: from Bani Neim – Hebron, started the strike 31 days ago. Salem Zeidat is 40 years old and has been jailed without charge or trial since 22 February 2020; he is married andd the father of 5 children, held in the Negev Prison.

2. Mujahed Hamed: from Silwad – Ramallah, started the strike 29 days ago. He has been detained since 22 September 2020 and married with a son, who was only one month old when he was seized from his home; he is held in the Negev prison.

3. Mohammed A’mar: from Tulkarem, started the strike 29 days ago. Mohammed A’mar is 26 years old and has been jailed without charge or trial since October 2020, held in the Negev prison.

4. Kayed Fasfous: from Dura – Hebron, started the strike 29 days ago. He is 32 years old, detained without charge or trial since October 2020, and held in Ramon prison.

5. Rafat Darawish: from Dura – Hebron, started the strike 28 days ago. He is 28 years old, detained since October 2020 without charge or trial. He is married with one child and suffers from health problems; he is jailed in Ramon prison.

6. Fadi al-Amour: from Hebron, started 22 days ago. Al-Amour, 31, was seized by the occupation on 20 May 2021 after being released in 2020 after serving six years in Israeli prisons. His brother, Mohammed, is also jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention; he is held in the Negev prison.

7. Miqdad Qawasmeh: from Hebron, started 21 days ago. Miqdad Qawasmeh is a Palestinian university student, 24 years old. He has been jailed without charge or trial since January 2021 and is held in Ofer prison.

8. Yousef al-Amer: Jenin, started 14 days ago. Yousef al-Amer is 28 years old, and previously launched a hunger strke against his administrative detention. He has been jailed since June 2020 and was sentenced to one year in Israeli prison; after his sentence ended, he was transferred to administrative detention in May 2021 rather than being released.

9. Ahmad Hamamra: from Beit Sahour, started the strike 12 days ago. He has been imprisoned without charge or trial since 17 August 2020 and previously participated in the 2017 collective hunger strike while detained.

10. Amjad Nammoura: from Dura, al-Khalil (Hebron), launched his strike 7 days ago. In the past, he spent over 5 years in Israeli prison, much of that in administrative detention. He is 38 years old, married, and the father of three children; he has been imprisoned since October 2020.

11. Akram Fasfous: from Dura, al-Khalil (Hebron), launched his strike 7 days ago. He is the brother of Kayed Fasfous, on hunger strike for 28 days, and of Mahmoud Fasfous, who was previously on strike before suspending due to severe heatlh deterioration. He has been jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention since October 2020. He is 38 years old, married and the father of four children.

12. Alaa al-Araj: from Tulkarem, launched his strike 4 days ago. He has been jailed since 30 June without charge or trial under administrative detention and is held in Megiddo prison. He is 34 years old.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestine to take action to support these Palestinian hunger strikers and all Palestinian prisoners struggling for freedom, for their own lives and for the Palestinian people. They are confronting the system of Israeli oppression on the front lines, with their bodies and their lives, to bring the system of administrative detention to an end. Take these actions below to stand with the hunger strikers and the struggle for liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea!

Download these signs for use in your campaigns:

• Poster/Sign: End Administrative Detention
• Poster/Sign: Free Hunger Strikers and All Prisoners
• Poster/Sign – End Administrative Detention (with Palestinian Flag)

As of 5 August 2021, 15 Palestinians continued their hunger strikes in Israeli occupation, 14 of them protesting their administrative detention — imprisonment without charge or trial — and one, Mohammed Nuwarra, protesting his ongoing solitary confinement. On 5 August, two detainees joined the hunger strike: Akram al-Fasfous, joining his brother, Kayed al-Fasfous, who has been on hunger strike for 22 days.

Sign the grassroots international petition: change.org/NoChargeNoTrialNoJail

Their other brother, Mahmoud al-Fasfous, also jailed without charge or trial, suspended his hunger strike earlier on Thursday after a severe deterioration of his health. Amjad Nammoura, of Dura near al-Khalil, also joined the hunger strike on Thursday in protest of his administrative detention.

Earlier, three Palestinian prisoners suspended their hunger strikes: Alaa el-Din Ali and Maher Dalaysheh, both Palestinian refugees from Jalazone camp near Ramallah, and Guevara Nammoura, the Palestinian professional football player who has competed on the Palestinian national team. Ali and Dalaysheh suspended their strikes after an agreement to set an end date for their administrative detention. Nammoura also suspended his strike after an agreement to conclude his administrative detention before the Israeli military court on 5 August.

While the occupation military court confirmed his detention on 5 August, reducing it to three months instead of four, it did not verify that this was a final order, which leaves open the possibility that the detention order could be renewed.

Administrative detention orders are issued for up to six months at a time and are indefinitely renewable. As a result, Palestinians routinely spend years at a time jailed without charge or trial in Israeli occupation prisons on the basis of so-called “secret evidence” denied to both the detainee and their lawyer. Administrative detention was first introduced to occupied Palestine by the British colonial mandate and then adopted by the Zionist occupation in order to suppress Palestinian resistance.

Fellow Palestinian prisoners have joined protests inside Israeli occupation prisons in support of the detainees on hunger strike. A series of rolling solidarity strikes have been announced, with the first participants including Bara’a Issa from Anata in Jerusalem, Taha al-Tarwa from Taffouh in al-Khalil, Malik al-Sa’ada from Halhoul and Qasim Masalmeh from Beit Awwa, all held in Ramon prison.

Israeli occupation forces have escalated their repression targeting the hunger strikers, including throwing them into isolation, storming and ransacking their cells, and repeatedly transferring them from one prison to another, a physically and mentally exhausting and taxing process, especially as the detainees begin to experience severe health effects. The Israeli prison system has also delayed in issuing permits to lawyers to visit the hunger-striking detainees, attempting to deprive them of communication and representation.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestine to take action to support these Palestinian hunger strikers and all Palestinian prisoners struggling for freedom, for their own lives and for the Palestinian people. They are confronting the system of Israeli oppression on the front lines, with their bodies and their lives, to bring the system of administrative detention to an end. Take these actions below to stand with the hunger strikers and the struggle for liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea!

Download these signs for use in your campaigns:

• Poster/Sign: End Administrative Detention
• Poster/Sign: Free Hunger Strikers and All Prisoners
• Poster/Sign – End Administrative Detention (with Palestinian Flag)

Please see the updated report from 5 August: https://samidoun.net/2021/08/hunger-strike-update-struggle-continues-against-administrative-detention/

Palestinian prisoners have launched a growing uprising inside Israeli prisons, with the number of hunger strikers now reaching 17. Sixteen of the hunger strikers are protesting their administrative detention, Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial that can be indefinitely renewed. Palestinians routinely are jailed for years at a time without ever being accused of any action under administrative detention orders, and since the beginning of 2021, 40 Palestinian prisoners have launched hunger strikes, most in rejection of administrative detention.

There are currently approximately 540 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention, out of 4,850 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails in total. In July alone, the Israeli occupation issued 98 administrative detention orders against Palestinian prisoners.

The hunger striking detainees are:

1. Salem Zeidat, Bani Neim – Hebron, started the strike 23 days ago. Salem Zeidat is 40 years old and has been jailed without charge or trial since 22 February 2020; he is married andd the father of 5 children, held in the Negev Prison.
2. Mujahed Hamed, Silwad – Ramallah, started the strike 21 days ago. He has been detained since 22 September 2020 and married with a son, who was only one month old when he was seized from his home; he is held in the Negev prison.
3. Mohammed Munir A’mar, Tulkarem, started the strike 21 days ago. Mohammed A’mar is 26 years old and has been jailed without charge or trial since October 2020, held in the Negev prison.
4. Kayed Fasfous, Dura – Hebron, started the strike 21 days ago. He is 32 years old, detained without charge or trial since October 2020, and held in Ramon prison.
5. Mahmoud Fasfous (Kayed’s brother), started the strike 21 days ago. He is 30 years old, has been jailed without charge or trial since September 2020, and is married and the father of a child. Like his brother, he is jailed in Ramon prison.
6. Guevara Nammoura, Dura – Hebron, started the strike 20 days ago. Nammoura, 28, is a football player with Shabab Dura, who was a member of the Palestinian national football team. He is married with one child, and his wife has launched a solidarity hunger strike in support of her husband. He is jailed in Ramon prison.
7. Rafat Darawish, Doura – Hebron, started the strike 20 days ago. He is 28 years old, detained since October 2020 without charge or trial. He is married with one child and suffers from health problems; he is jailed in Ramon prison.
8. Maher Dalaysha, Ramallah, started the strike 15 days ago. Maher Dalaysheh is 46 years old, from Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah, married and the father of five children. He launched his strike after his detention was renewed after an initial announcement of his release, with his family waiting for him. He has been jailed without charge or trial since 23 March 2021, and previously served 10 years in Israeli prison, including 5 years in administrative detention.
9. Alaa El-Din Ali, Ramallah, started the strike 14 days ago. Ali, 38, has been jailed without charge or trial since January 2021 after being subjected to harsh interrogation for 90 days. Married and the father of three children, he is jailed in the Negev prison.
10. Ahmad Abdul-Rahman Abu Sal, al-‘Arroub camp – Hebron, started 14 days ago. Ahmad Abu Sal is 26 years old and has been detained since October 2020. He is married and has a child; his brother, Mahmoud, is also jailed without charge or trial; he is held in the Negev prison.
11. Mohammad Khaled Abu Sal, al-‘Arroub camp – Hebron, started 14 days ago. Mohammed Abu Sal, 30, has been jailed without charge or trial since October 2020; he is jailed in the Negev prison.
12. Fadi al-Amour, Hebron, started 14 days ago. Al-Amour, 31, was seized by the occupation on 20 May 2021 after being released in 2020 after serving six years in Israeli prisons. His brother, Mohammed, is also jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention; he is held in the Negev prison.
13. Ahmad Nazzal, Jenin, started 14 days ago. Nazzal, 53 years old, has been detained without charge or trial since 9 January 2021. He previously served 9 years in Israeli prisons and is married and the father of seven children.
14. Miqdad al-Qawasmeh, Hebron, started 13 days ago. Miqdad Qawasmeh is a Palestinian university student, 24 years old. He has been jailed without charge or trial since January 2021 and is held in Ofer prison.
15. Yousef al-Amer, Jenin, started 6 days ago. Yousef al-Amer is 28 years old, and previously launched a hunger strke against his administrative detention. He has been jailed since June 2020 and was sentenced to one year in Israeli prison; after his sentence ended, he was transferred to administrative detention in May 2021 rather than being released.
16. Ahmad Hamamra, Beit Sahour, started the strike 4 days ago. He has been imprisoned without charge or trial since 17 August 2020.
17. Mohammad Nuwwara, Ramallah, started 10 days ago, protesting his solitary confinement.Mohammed Nuwarra has been imprisoned since 2001, serving a life sentence for his resistance to the Israeli occupation. He is being held in solitary confinement and demanding to be returned to the general population.

As the number of hunger strikers has increased, Israeli occupation forces have continued brutal attacks on the prisoners. On Tuesday, 3 August, the detainees in Ofer prison returned their meals and closed their sections in protest of the invasion of their rooms by the special repressive units, Masada, Al-Yamam and Al-Durar in the prison’s Section 16, during which 72 Palestinian prisoners were transferred to Section 18.

The detainees refused to go out for recreation, to use the canteen or showers. During the attack on Ofer’s section 16, 8 Palestinian child prisoners held there were assaulted after they were transferred from Megiddo prison. There are 900 Palestinian prisoners held in Ofer, including a number of administrative detainees and child prisoners.

Meanwhile, Israeli occupation jailers assaulted hunger-striking detainees in the Negev Prison and stormed Section 10 of the Eshel Detention Center.

A number of the hunger strikers have been thrown into isolation. Kayed al-Fasfous is being held in Nitzan Ramle prison in isolation, while Mahmoud al-Fasfous is currently isolated in the Ramle prison clinic after his health deteriorated.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestine to take action to support these 17 Palestinian hunger strikers and all Palestinian prisoners struggling for freedom, for their own lives and for the Palestinian people. They are confronting the system of Israeli oppression on the front lines, with their bodies and their lives, to bring the system of administrative detention to an end. Take these actions below to stand with the hunger strikers and the struggle for liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea!

Download these signs for use in your campaigns:

• Poster/Sign: End Administrative Detention
• Poster/Sign: Free Hunger Strikers and All Prisoners
• Poster/Sign – End Administrative Detention (with Palestinian Flag)