Israeli court rejects Khalil Awawdeh's appeal for release

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Aug 20:27
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Despite hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner Khalil Awawdeh's critical health condition, an Israeli occupation court rejects the appeal to end his arbitrary administrative detention.

A poster of Palestinian prisoner Khalil Awawdeh

The appeal of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner Khalil Awawdeh to an Israeli occupation court for his release from arbitrary administrative detention was denied on Monday, as per Palestinian sources.

It is worth noting that Awawdeh has been on a hunger strike for about 156 days.

The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs warned on Sunday of the possibility that hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner Khalil Awawdeh could die surprisingly as his health condition deteriorates drastically.

"Prisoner Awawdeh's health condition is getting worse day by day," commission spokesperson Hassan Abed Rabbo said. "He has lost more than half of his body weight, and he feels incredibly weak. His vision is impaired so much so that he could not recognize his wife Dalal Awawdeh as she was visiting him at the Assaf Harofeh hospital."

"He is suffering from severe joint pain, headaches, and dizziness. He is unable to walk and uses a wheelchair to move," Abed Rabbo added.

Lawyer Ahlam Haddad, defending Palestinian prisoner Khalil Awawdeh, confirmed in an interview for Al Mayadeen on Friday that she was "shocked" when she saw him.

Prisoners Club: The occupation court rejects the appeal filed for the release of detained Khalil Awawdeh, who has been on hunger strike for 156 days, despite his critical health condition.#Human_Rights_Organization #kenyaelections2022 #save_khalil pic.twitter.com/7B9PfxnESR
— Leen Nazzal (@nazzal_leen) August 15, 2022

Haddad said, "I was shocked when I saw prisoner Awawdeh because of his extreme weakness," explaining that he "is suffering from severe weight loss, is unable to speak, and does not remember his family members."

Human rights organizations have also confirmed that the prisoner Awawdeh "is at risk of martyrdom at any moment, in light of the occupation's refusal to respond to his demands to end his arbitrary administrative detention, despite the seriousness of his health condition."

The freedom of Awawdeh was one of the clauses of the Egyptian-mediated ceasefire between Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Israeli occupation, which took place earlier this week after several days of Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, killing dozens of Palestinian civilians and wounding hundreds of others.

The head of the political department in the Islamic Jihad Movement, Muhammad Al-Hindi, said on August 7 that "a formula for the Egyptian declaration of the truce agreement has been reached, and it includes Egypt's commitment to work for the release of the two prisoners, Khalil Awawdeh and Bassam Al-Saadi."