Palestinian prisoner ends 94-day hunger strike

Palestinian hunger striker Mohammed al-Qiq has reached a deal with Israeli authorities to end his 94-day fast, his representatives and family announced at a press conference Friday.

The 33-year-old reporter for Saudi television channel Al-Majd started his fast on November 25 in protest at the “torture and ill treatment that he was subjected to during interrogation”, according to Addameer, a Palestinian rights organisation.

Fayha, the wife of Mohammed al-Qeq, said on Friday he will end his strike “today” and will be freed on May 21.

Qeq has occasionally taken minerals and vitamins but mainly ingests only tap water, say doctors who have visited him in hospital in the northern Israeli town of Afula.

The Palestinian government in the West Bank welcomed the deal. He has been under observation at an Israeli hospital where he refused all treatment. Israel says the tactic is an important security tool necessary to stop militant attacks, especially at a time of increased Palestinian violence.

Head of the Detainees’ Committee Issa Qaraqe said al-Qeeq’s will, and determination, overcame Israel’s policies of death, and that he managed to challenge Israel’s illegal Administrative Detention policies, that enable Israel to hold hundreds of Palestinians indefinitely captive, without charges.

Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat congratulated al-Qeq for his “victory over the warden, through his legendary steadfastness”.

Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security service has said he was arrested for “terror activity” on behalf of the Islamist political party Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Robert Piper, the United Nations coordinator for humanitarian assistance and development aid, said earlier this month that he was “deeply concerned” about the practice, and particularly “alarmed” by al-Qeq’s “rapidly deteriorating” health.

His fate has been discussed in recent top-level meetings, including on Sunday by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and US Secretary of State John Kerry. Police said an initial investigation indicates it was “most likely” a Palestinian assailant who carried out the attack and then fled the scene. Palestinians say it stems from frustration at almost five decades of Israeli rule and dwindling hopes for gaining independence.