The death of Khader Adnan in prison in Israel, after 86 days of hunger strike

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Khader Adnan, leader of the radical Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, died in an Israeli prison after an 86-day hunger strike, which he began to protest his arrest. In response to the news of Adnan’s death, three rockets were fired at Israel on Tuesday morning from Gaza (where Islamic Jihad is active), which landed on uninhabited areas and did no damage.

Khader Adnan was 45 years old and had long been considered one of the spokesmen of Islamic Jihad, a military and political group that operates mainly in the Gaza Strip and is considered by Israel to be a terrorist organization. For his activity Adnan had been arrested many times in recent years, and was in prison for the tenth time. On more than one occasion, to protest against his arrest and against the conditions of detention of Palestinian people, he had carried out hunger strikes which had made him quite well known.

Adnan he had been arrested the last time in February during an Israeli army operation in the West Bank, where he lived. He had been placed in pre-trial detention pending trial, and had immediately gone on hunger strike. Throughout his strike, Adnan had refused outside medical help and visits from prison doctors.

As his condition worsened, calls had grown for him to be transferred from the Nitzan prison clinic, where he was staying, to a better-equipped, civilian hospital. According to Adnan’s wife, which he gave an interview ad AFP a few days ago, however, the Israeli authorities had refused the transfer.

Adnan was found in his cell in the early hours of Tuesday, unconscious. He was immediately taken to hospital but was pronounced dead a few hours later.

The news of his death provoked several reactions. In a statement, the Islamic Jihad group said that “his death will be a lesson for generations, and we will not stop as long as Palestine remains under occupation.” He also called a general strike in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Hamas, the radical Palestinian group that controls the Strip, has made it known that “the Palestinian people will not let this crime go unnoticed, and will respond appropriately.”

So far, the main practical response to Adnan’s death has been the launch of three rockets from the Gaza Strip, which, however, have done no damage.

Adnan’s death has also opened a discussion on Israel’s treatment of people accused of terrorism or similar crimes, who can be detained without trial virtually indefinitely, with renewals every six months, in what Israeli justice calls “administrative detention ». There are currently over 1,000 people in “administrative detention” in Israel, the highest number in 20 years. The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, a right-wing extremist, recently promised to handle prisoners even more strictly. It was one of the issues Adnan had called a hunger strike against.