Israel officials intend to force feed Palestinian hunger striker: lawyer

While the new law does not specifically mention Palestinians, Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who sponsored the legislation, said last week it was necessary since “hunger strikes of terrorists in prisons have become a means to threaten Israel”.

Israel moved a Palestinian hunger striker who has not eaten for over 50 days to a different hospital Monday, officials said, sparking concern that authorities are preparing to force feed him.

The advocacy group put the amount of days Allaan has been on hunger strike at 54, though different numbers have been provided.

He added that Allaan was placed in intensive hospital care when his body became unable to absorb drinking water.

Scores of Palestinians jailed by Israel have announced the launch of an open-ended hunger strike to protest their arbitrary transfer by Israeli prison authorities and the repressive conditions generally faced by Palestinian detainees, according to a Palestinian NGO.

In his letter, Ghattas requests that the administration keep to the medical code of ethics and refuse to force feed the prisoner because “if not, the hospital and its doctors are liable to global sanctions and boycotts by human rights organizations and medical institutions and will face claims of participation in the act of torturing prisoners”.

If carried out it would be the first case since the adoption last month of a new law permitting the practice.

Allaan, a lawyer, is being held under a procedure allowing indefinite internment without charge.

It is understood the prisoners, most of whom are incarcerated under so-called “administrative detention” – without trial – scrapped the strike after the Israel Prison Service met some of the their demands, including a transfer to another wing and a letup in personal searches.

The younger Allan is on hunger strike to protest his administrative detention, a controversial measure that allows Israel to detain suspects without charge for long periods.