Palestinian hunger striker in critical condition

A Palestinian prisoner on the 42nd day of a hunger strike is in critical condition after beginning to refuse liquids. Tel Aviv-based Physicians for Human Rights-Israel demanded on Tuesday that Bilal Nabil Diab be transferred to a civilian hospital since his condition is “very worrisome,” especially since Sunday when he refused to take liquids, AFP reported. Diab, a 27-year-old from an area near Jenin in the northern West Bank, who was arrested in August 2011 under Israel’s so-called “administrative detention,” has been refusing to eat to protest his detention in an Israeli prison. He has told a PHR doctor that he will resume taking liquids if he is transferred to a civilian hospital. The human rights group has called on Israel to arrange the transfer immediately and to allow independent physicians to regularly examine other detained hunger strikers with family members present and prison doctors not observing the procedures. Thaer Halahla, a detained Palestinian from al-Khalil (Hebron), has also been on hunger strike since March 1, but is still accepting fluids. Khader Adnan and Hana Shalabi, Palestinian prisoners who were on hunger strike for 66 and 44 days respectively, inspired the wave of protests among Palestinian administrative detainees. Adnan ended his hunger strike on February 21 after making a deal with Israel to be freed on April 17. Shalabi agreed to end her hunger strike on March 29 in return for expulsion to the Gaza Strip for three years. More than 300 Palestinians are currently being held in administrative detention, which allows the Israeli authorities to imprison anyone for up to six months without any formal charges or trial. The detention order can be renewed for indefinite periods of time. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and prisoner advocacy groups, there are currently over 6,000 Palestinian prisoners, including legislators, in Israeli prisons, many of whom were rounded up without charge or trial. Independent sources put the number of inmates at 11,000.