Israeli authorities on Sunday released a Palestinian security captive whose marathon 131-day hunger strike garnered international attention.
Quaid Fasfoss, a Fatah member of the Dura near Hebron, was filmed being victorious in his hometown. Official Palestinian Authority media broadcast the reception live, with prominent Fatah officials present to welcome him.
Sabri Saidam, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, said in front of a crowd of hundreds, “Thank you, you have given us the respect.”
Fasfas, through his hunger strike, protested his detention by Israel without charge. He was later joined by five other Palestinians who refused food for weeks, eventually being hospitalized in Israel. Five of the six hunger strikers, including Fasfas, reached an agreement with Israel that their detention would not be renewed.
Shin Bet Security Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations against Phosphas.
Fasfous and others were placed under Israel’s practice of administrative custody, meaning he was never formally charged with the crime. Israel says the controversial process is necessary to prevent terrorist attacks when it has intelligence that cannot be publicly disclosed in court.
Administrative custody is legal under international law in exceptional circumstances. But Palestinians and their advocates argue that Israel abuses the tool, making widespread use of it when there is no imminent threat to public order.
90 days after his protest, the International Committee for the Red Cross warned that Fasfaus’s deteriorating medical condition could pose a serious threat to his long-term health.
In mid-October, the ICRC’s health representative, Robert Patterson, said: “We are concerned about the potentially irreversible consequences of such a long hunger strike.[s] for their health and life. Fasfaus’ strike continued for another month, before he was informed that Israel would not renew his detention.
According to data provided by Israeli authorities to the left-wing Hamok rights group, some 493 Palestinian prisoners are in administrative custody in Israeli prisons. They make up about 11 percent of all Palestinians jailed or detained by Israel for security crimes.
Hunger strikes are a common protest method used by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. In some cases, Palestinians will strike on an individual basis in an attempt to change the terms of their detention; Israel’s prison system has also witnessed massive hunger strikes involving thousands of detainees.