Khader Adnane on July 12, 2015 near the West Bank city of Jenin. ABED OMAR QUSINI / Portal
Khader Adnane, a senior leader of the Palestinian Islamist Islamic Jihad movement who has been on a hunger strike for more than 80 days to protest his detention by Israel, died on Tuesday (May 2), consistent sources said.
The Israeli prison administration issued a statement announcing the death of an Islamic Jihad-affiliated prisoner who was “found unconscious in his cell” and then hospitalized. Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian Prisoners Club, an association defending the rights of Palestinians detained by Israel, have confirmed to Agence France-Presse (AFP) that Khader Adnane has died at the age of 45.
Palestinian Prisoners’ Club President Qaddoura Fares told AFP it was the first Palestinian prisoner to die in Israeli custody from a hunger strike.
Rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip, where Islamic Jihad has a strong presence, shortly after his death was announced on Tuesday morning, AFP journalists noted. Israel “will pay the price for this crime,” said Islamic Jihad in a statement, a movement considered “terrorist” by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
“The free hero, Khader Adnane, died a martyr for a crime committed by the enemy before the world that condones, protects and covers up injustice and terrorism,” added Islamic Jihad.
The Israeli army said in a statement that a total of three rockets were fired, adding that they fell on vacant land.
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Imprisoned many times
Khader Adnane began his hunger strike on February 5th. On Friday, his wife Randa Moussa told AFP that he refused “any help, any medical examination”. “He is in a cell where the conditions of detention are very difficult. [Israël] refused to transfer him to a civilian hospital and allow his lawyer to visit,” she added.
The prisoner “refused to undergo medical examinations and treatment,” according to the Israeli prison administration. He had been placed under administrative detention, a controversial provision that allows Israel to hold Palestinians without charge or trial.
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Originally from the north of the occupied West Bank, Khader Adnane had been imprisoned numerous times by Israel and had gone on several hunger strikes, becoming a symbol for the Palestinians.
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