PA Launches International Campaign Against Israeli Administrative Detention

A Palestinian prisoner at Nitzan jail (File photo: Reuters)
A Palestinian prisoner at Nitzan jail (File photo: Reuters)
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PA Launches International Campaign Against Israeli Administrative Detention

A Palestinian prisoner at Nitzan jail (File photo: Reuters)
A Palestinian prisoner at Nitzan jail (File photo: Reuters)

The Palestinian Authority (PA) launched an international campaign to end the Israeli administrative detention against Palestinians.

Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki, who left for the US to participate in the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, will bring the issue of prisoners during his meetings with international organizations in Washington.

The foreign ministry issued a statement saying that the Minister will present the Palestinian stance, and report the suffering of the Palestinian people, the crimes of the occupation and its settlers, and systematic and widespread violations against Jerusalem and the prisoners.

Meanwhile, six Palestinians in Israeli prisons have declared an open-ended hunger strike to protest administrative detention.

The media consultant of the Commission of the Detainees' Affairs, Hasan Abed-Rabbo, reported that six detainees, held by Israel under arbitrary administrative detention orders without charges or trial, are on a hunger strike despite serious complications.

Abed-Rabbo stated that the detainees are suffering from a sharp pain, severe weight loss, fatigue, serious mineral deficiency, salt deficiency, and other complications.

The hunger-striking detainees are Kayed al-Fasfous, who started the strike 66 days ago, Miqdad al-Qawasma, who started 59 days ago, Ala al-Araj 41 days ago, Hisham Abu Hawwash 33 days ago, Rayeq Bisharat 28 days ago, and Shadi Abu Aker 25 days ago.

Israel refuses to respond to the prisoners' demands to end their administrative detention, exacerbating their health condition.

The administrative law is based on the British Emergency Law of 1945, which Israel used to arrest Palestinians and imprison them without trials for various periods automatically renewed.

The administrative imprisonment relies on a file that the Israeli security services claim is confidential.

There are about 540 administrative detainees in Israeli prisons out of about 5,000 prisoners. The number of administrative detention rulings since 1967 is estimated at more than 54,000, between new decisions and renewals of administrative detention.

The Palestinian Society Prisoners Club said that, since the beginning of this year, the administrative detainees have carried out hunger strikes to confront the policy of administrative detention.

It renewed its call for the need to stop going to the military courts of the occupation.



UN Food Agency Says Its Food Stocks in Gaza Have Run out under Israel’s Blockade

A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Food Agency Says Its Food Stocks in Gaza Have Run out under Israel’s Blockade

A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)

The World Food Program says its food stocks in the Gaza Strip have run out under Israel’s nearly 8-week-old blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory.

The WFP said in a statement that it delivered the last of its stocks to charity kitchens that it supports around Gaza. It said those kitchens are expected to run out of food in the coming days.

Some 80% of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food, because other sources have shut down under Israel’s blockade, according to the UN. The WFP has been supporting 47 kitchens that distribute 644,000 hot meals a day, WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa told the Associated Press.

It was not immediately clear how many kitchens would still be operating in Gaza if those shut down. But Etefa said the WFP-backed kitchens are the major ones in Gaza.

Israel cut off entry of all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza on March 2 and then resumed its bombardment and ground offensives two weeks later, shattering a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. It says the moves aim to pressure Hamas to release hostages it still holds. Rights groups have called the blockade a “starvation tactic” and a potential war crime.

Israel has said Gaza has enough supplies after a surge of aid entered during the ceasefire and accuses Hamas of diverting aid for its purposes. Humanitarian workers deny there is significant diversion, saying the UN strictly monitors distribution. They say the aid flow during the ceasefire was barely enough to cover the immense needs from throughout the war when only a trickle of supplies got in.

With no new goods entering Gaza, many foods have disappeared from markets, including meat, eggs, fruits, dairy products and many vegetables. Prices for what remains have risen dramatically, becoming unaffordable for much of the population. Most families rely heavily on canned goods.

Malnutrition is already surging. The UN said it identified 3,700 children suffering from acute malnutrition in March, up 80% from the month before. At the same time, because of diminishing supplies, aid groups were only able to provide nutritional supplements to some 22,000 children in March, down 70% from February. The supplements are a crucial tool for averting malnutrition.

Almost all bakeries shut down weeks ago and the WFP stopped distribution of food basics to families for lack of supplies. With stocks of most ingredients depleted, charity kitchens generally can only serve meals of pasta or rice with little added.

World Central Kitchen -- a US charity that is one of the biggest in Gaza that doesn’t rely on the WFP -- said Thursday that its kitchens had run out of proteins. Instead, they make stews from canned vegetables. Because fuel is scarce, it dismantles wooden shipping pallets to burn in its stoves, it said. It also runs the only bakery still functioning in Gaza, producing 87,000 loaves of pita a day.

The WFP said 116,000 tons of food is ready to be brought into Gaza if Israel opens the borders, enough to feed 1 million people for four months.

Israel has leveled much of Gaza with its air and ground campaign, vowing to destroy Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. It has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

In the Oct. 7 attack, gunmen killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. They still hold 59 hostages after most were released in ceasefire deals.