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.



Druze Group ‘Rijal al-Karama’ Rejects Disarmament, Calls for Weapons Regulation in Sweida

Mourners attend funeral of those killed in clashes in southern Sweida town on Saturday (AFP)
Mourners attend funeral of those killed in clashes in southern Sweida town on Saturday (AFP)
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Druze Group ‘Rijal al-Karama’ Rejects Disarmament, Calls for Weapons Regulation in Sweida

Mourners attend funeral of those killed in clashes in southern Sweida town on Saturday (AFP)
Mourners attend funeral of those killed in clashes in southern Sweida town on Saturday (AFP)

A leading Druze movement said on Sunday that the issue of surrendering arms remains unresolved, even as local leaders in southern Syria announced the official start of implementing a peace agreement brokered by Druze clerics and dignitaries in Sweida province.

Bassem Abu Fakhr, spokesman for the “Rijal al-Karama” movement, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group's weapons were solely for defense and had never been used offensively.

“The matter of handing over weapons falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense, and no final decision has been made yet,” Abu Fakhr said. “Our arms have never posed a threat to any party. We have not attacked anyone, and our weapons exist to protect our land and honor.”

He added that while the group does not object to regulating the presence of weapons, full surrender was out of the question.

“We have no issue with organizing arms under state authority, provided they remain within the province’s administrative boundaries and under state supervision,” he said. “But the matter of weapons remains unresolved.”

Formed in 2013, Rijal al-Karama was established to protect the Druze community and prevent its youth from being conscripted into fighting for any side in Syria’s protracted conflict, which erupted after mass protests against then President Bashar al-Assad.

The group continues to operate as an independent local defense force, separate from state security institutions.

Abu Fakhr told Asharq Al-Awsat that a high-level meeting held last Thursday in Sweida—attended by senior Druze spiritual leaders Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri and Sheikh Hammoud al-Hanawi, along with local dignitaries and community members—resulted in an agreement to reactivate the police and judicial police under the Ministry of Interior.

Abu Fakhr also denied recent reports claiming that Druze clerics, tribal leaders, and faction commanders had agreed to fully surrender their weapons to the state.

“This issue has not been resolved by all parties in Sweida,” he said, reiterating the group’s position: “We have no objection to organizing the weapons under state oversight, as long as they remain within the administrative boundaries of the province, but not to surrendering them.”

The statement underscores continuing tensions over the role of armed groups in Sweida, a province that has largely remained outside the control of both government and opposition forces throughout Syria’s civil war.