A Palestinian lawyer has fallen into a coma after entering his 60th day on hunger strike while being held by Israel in administrative detention.
Mohammed Allan, who has been imprisoned without charge or trial since November last year, was put on a respirator on Friday and is receiving fluids – the first medical treatment he has received since beginning his protest against Israel’s policy of administrative detention.
Allan, 31, allegedly a member of Islamic Jihad, had refused any medical treatment, vitamins or minerals but had been drinking water.
A spokesperson for Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon, Israel, said in a statement: “The condition of Mohammed Allan deteriorated this morning. He is receiving treatment and his condition is stable. The treatment is being administered according to the ethics committee guidelines and includes respiration and intravenous fluids and saline.”
Palestinians participate in solidarity sit with Palestinian prisoner Mohammed Allan in front of Soroka hospital pic.twitter.com/KIaCmcuS5h
— QudsNet.ps (@qudsnetnewsagen) August 10, 2015
Last month, the Knesset passed a law permitting the force-feeding of prisoners on hunger strike if their life is in danger.
Israel has long been concerned that hunger strikes by Palestinians in its jails could end in deaths and trigger waves of protests in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. On Friday, the Israel prison service declared a state of emergency across Israeli jails, closing all sections and imposing a curfew on all prisoners.
Last Friday, the International Red Cross issued a warning that Allan’s situation was rapidly deteriorating and his life was at risk. After doctors at Soroka hospital in Beersheba refused to force-feed him, he was transferred to Barzilai on Monday.
https://twitter.com/AYAHUMAIDM/status/632084688169865216
Doctors there have also stated they would not force-feed Allan, but the hospital’s medical director, Dr Chezi Levy, did not rule it out when speaking with the media this week.
– Read more: Palestinian Lawyer on Hunger Strike over Israeli Detention Policy Falls into Coma – The Guardian
