Palestinian journalist ends hunger strike in Israel jail

A Palestinian journalist in Israeli jail without trial, Mohammed al-Qiq, agreed Friday to end his 94-day hunger strike under a deal for his release in May, an NGO announced.

"An agreement has been reached under which his administrative detention will end on May 21 and will not be renewed," the Palestinian Prisoners' Club said, referring to Qiq's imprisonment without trial.

Israeli authorities contacted by AFP did not immediately confirm or deny such an agreement.

The 33-year-old television reporter started his fast on November 25 in protest at the "torture and ill treatment that he was subjected to during interrogation", according to Addameer, a Palestinian rights organisation.

Qiq has occasionally taken minerals and vitamins but mainly ingests only tap water, say doctors who have visited him in hospital in the northern Israeli town of Afula.
The Supreme Court officially suspended the internment order against Qiq on February 4, but refused his demand for transfer to a hospital in the West Bank city of Ramallah, which is under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction.

The United Nations has expressed concern about his fate and the International Committee of the Red Cross described his condition as critical.

Israel's Shin Bet domestic security service says Qiq was detained for "terror activity" on behalf of the Islamist group Hamas, which controls Gaza, a charge he denies.

Israel's controversial administrative detention law allows the state to hold suspects without trial for periods of six months renewable indefinitely.