- Title: Palestinian prisoner suspends hunger strike following release deal
- Date: 31st August 2022
- Summary: BE'ER YA'AKOV, ISRAEL (AUGUST 24, 2022) (REUTERS) PALESTINIAN PRISONER WHO WAS ON HUNGER STRIKE FOR OVER 160 DAYS, KHALIL AWAWDEH, ON HOSPITAL BED (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN PRISONER WHO WAS ON HUNGER STRIKE FOR OVER 160 DAYS, KHALIL AWAWDEH, ON HOSPITAL BED, SAYING: "The health condition is extensively deteriorating, I feel I am internally collapsing, I feel that my body is consuming itself internally in a strange manner, but God's support, steadfastness and patience and the support of God is what raises my spirits and enables me to continue, thank God. The body is frail and deteriorating." EXTERIOR OF ASSAF HAROFEH HOSPITAL IDHNA, WEST BANK (AUGUST 23, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POSTERS OF AWAWDEH AT THE ENTRANCE OF HIS HOUSE FAMILY OF AWAWDEH STANDING BY POSTER POSTER OF AWAWDEH RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (AUGUST 23, 2022) (REUTERS) WOMEN HOLDING POSTERS OF PRISONERS 21. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AND CHILDREN STANDING AND CHANTING, IN PROTEST FOR THE RIGHTS OF PALESTINIAN PRISONERS IN ISRAELI PRISONS
- Embargoed: 14th September 2022 20:13
- Keywords: Israel Khalil Awawdeh Palestinian hungerstrike prisoner
- Location: IDHNA, RAMALLAH, WEST BANK/ BE'ER YA'AKOV, ISRAEL
- City: IDHNA, RAMALLAH, WEST BANK/ BE'ER YA'AKOV, ISRAEL
- Country: Palestinian Occupied Territory
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
- Reuters ID: LVA003190831082022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: PART VIDEO QUALITY AS INCOMING
Palestinian prisoner Khalil Awawdeh ended a hunger strike lasting over 160 days on Wednesday (August 31) after Israel agreed to his release in October, his lawyer said.
In a video circulating on social media, Awawdeh, who appeared frail and bony and kept losing his breath as he spoke from a hospital bed, said he will remain hospitalised until he regains his health and can walk again.
Until he is discharged on October 2, Awawdeh will remain in hospital for treatment, his lawyer, Ahlam Haddad told Reuters.
Awawdeh, 40, launched the hunger strike shortly after his arrest in December 2021 in protest of being held by Israel without charge or trial, a practice known as administrative detention.
Haddad said Awawdeh has subsisted only on water for months and warned last week that he could "die at any moment" due to his deteriorating health.
Egyptian mediators recently pushed for Awawdeh's release under a ceasefire agreement to end three days of fighting between Israel and the militant Islamic Jihad group that left 49 people dead in Gaza.
No comment was immediately available from the Israeli military, defense ministry or prison service.
Dawoud Shehab, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesperson, hailed the agreement as an achievement, which he said came following weeks of effort.
"We are grateful for the big effort Egypt has exerted to secure the freedom of brother Awawdeh,†Shehab told Reuters.
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