Prisoner Awawdeh to continue hunger strike despite hardship: Exclusive
Hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner Khalil Awawdeh underlines that he will continue his hunger strike despite all the hardship he is undergoing.
Palestinian prisoner Khalil Awawdeh is isolated in the intensive care unit in Asaf Harofeh hospital, Al Mayadeen's correspondent in occupied Palestine reported on Saturday.
Our correspondent visited Awadeh in the occupation's medical center one day after the Israeli Supreme Court suspended his administrative detention, and she said she made it into his room despite the occupation's restrictive measures.
"I am tired. My body is collapsing, and I am cold. I am not receiving any kind of supplement. Popular support is keeping me going and serving as a tool of political pressure," Awawdeh told Al Mayadeen's correspondent.
مراسلة #الميادين عن الأسير #عواودة: لا أتلقى أي نوع من المدعمات والإسناد الشعبي يعطيني معنويات ويشكل ضغطاً سياسياً.#فلسطين @HanaaMahamed pic.twitter.com/cRQSjgs7Z4
— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) August 20, 2022
Awawdeh underlined that he will be continuing his hunger strike despite his fatigue and the deterioration of his health condition.
Watch | Despite his struggle to even talk, the #Palestinian hunger-striking prisoner #KhalilAwawdeh draws a smile on his face while talking to his wife.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) August 20, 2022
The prisoner has been going on a hunger strike for more than 160 days now.#FreeThemAll #FreeKhalil pic.twitter.com/fUbClINrTD
Hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner Khalil Awawdeh said late Friday that he will continue his hunger strike until the most comprehensive, final decision is taken, which is his release.
Awawdeh's words came after the Israeli occupation Supreme Court issued hours earlier an urgent decision to suspend Awawdeh's administrative detention.
"The suspension of the prisoner's administrative detention is a step that allows his family to keep an eye on him and stand by his side," said Dalal Awawdeh, the hunger-striking prisoner's wife. "The prisoner's lawyer submitted a petition to the Supreme Court earlier today," she added.
The Israeli occupation's Ofer court rejected on August 15 Awawdeh's appeal for his release from arbitrary administrative detention.
The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs warned on Sunday of the possibility that 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 Asaf Harofeh hospital."
An Israeli occupation court held last week an unplanned court session for Awawdeh due to his deteriorating health condition. He was still in the "Ramleh" prison clinic, however, without being transferred to a hospital.
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."