Palestinian political prisoner ends hunger strike

A Palestinian political prisoner ended a two-month hunger strike on Thursday that had put his life at risk and sparked intense debate over his detention without trial by Israeli authorities, his lawyer said.

"Mohammad Allaan regained consciousness and is not on hunger strike," lawyer Jamil al-Khatib told journalists one day after Israel’s Supreme Court temporarily lifted his client’s detention orders.

Khatib, who made the announcement after visiting Allaan in hospital in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, said his health was improving, though he remained bedridden. Allaan was receiving vitamins and minerals intravenously, he added.

"He is in a good health condition and can communicate with others," Khatib said. "He can't eat food in his mouth because it needs a while. Now he is drinking water and it will be gradual, and I imagine this will be next week."

Israel accuses Allaan, a lawyer from the West Bank, of being a member of the Palestinian armed group Islamic Jihad — a charge he denies.

He was arrested in November 2014 and placed in administrative detention — a controversial form of imprisonment that allows Israeli authorities to detain individuals indefinitely without charge, trial or access to counsel if they are deemed a security threat.

Allaan’s 65-day hunger strike highlighted the plight of Palestinian political prisoners held in administrative detention, drew condemnation against the Israeli policy by international rights groups, and galvanized protesters in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Despite Israel’s high court decision on Wednesday to temporary lift Allaan’s detention orders, he must remain in hospital pending a final decision on his case. The ruling left open the question of what would happen if or when his health improves.

Al Jazeera and Agence France Presse