Gaza Stands in Support of Palestinian Hunger Striker Al-Akhras
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Gaza’s Ministry of Prisoners held a protest outside the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City in support of hunger-striking prisoner Maher Al-Akhras who is now on the 78th day of his strike.
Calling on the UN and rights groups to stand with the prisoner, whose doctors have said could die at any moment as a result of his hunger strike, protesters also denounced Israel’s policy of holding Palestinians under administrative detention; without trial or charge, the Middle East Monitor reported.
Forty-nine-year-old Al-Akhras prisoner, who is a father of six from the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, started his strike after Israel placed him under administrative detention following his arrest on July 27.
He said, “I either live freely with my children, or I am killed in the name of false justice.” His wife, Taghreed, launched her own hunger strike alongside her husband on Thursday in an effort to increase pressure for his release.
The Israeli occupation is holding about 5,000 Palestinians in its prisons, including 43 women, 180 children, and 430 administrative detainees.
Some 700 detainees who have medical issues which require treatment are also being held in captivity, according to the data from the Prisoners’ Affairs and Executives Authority.