Palestinian Prisoner on Hunger Strike ‘Nears Death’ in Israel, Doctors Say

Clashes in Hebron on Friday during Palestinian solidarity marches with prisoners on hunger strike in Israel (EPA)
Clashes in Hebron on Friday during Palestinian solidarity marches with prisoners on hunger strike in Israel (EPA)
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Palestinian Prisoner on Hunger Strike ‘Nears Death’ in Israel, Doctors Say

Clashes in Hebron on Friday during Palestinian solidarity marches with prisoners on hunger strike in Israel (EPA)
Clashes in Hebron on Friday during Palestinian solidarity marches with prisoners on hunger strike in Israel (EPA)

Palestinian administrative detainee Kayed Fasfous is nearing sudden death after 122 days of hunger strike, the Palestinian Commission on Detainees' Affairs reported.

The Commission said that Fasfous remains detained at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. He is suffering from an intermittent loss of consciousness, irregular heartbeats, tingling in the chest, a decrease in blood pressure, kidney and heart problems, a shortage of fluids in his body, and recurring pains and aches through his body.

Fasfous’s brother, Hasan, said that doctors at Barzilai told him that his brother has been developing symptoms suggesting a clot in his blood, which is an early warning of the risk of sudden death.

Other prisoners on a hunger strike to protest Israel’s illegal administrative detention policy are Alaa Al-Araj (98 days), Hisham Abu Hawash (89 days), Louay Al-Ashqar (34 days), and Ayyad Al-Harimi (52 days).

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

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

There are about 540 administrative detainees in Israeli prisons out of 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.

Israel rejected a petition submitted Thursday by the Commission to the Israeli high court, demanding the immediate release of Fasfous and the annulment of his administrative detention order.

Further, the Palestinian prisoner Araj was “deceived”, and his administrative detention was extended for eight days.



RSF Attack a City under Military Control in Central Sudan, Opening a New Front

Sudanese soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces unit, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy head of the military council, secure the area where Dagalo attends a military-backed tribe's rally, in the East Nile province, Sudan, on June 22, 2019. (AP)
Sudanese soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces unit, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy head of the military council, secure the area where Dagalo attends a military-backed tribe's rally, in the East Nile province, Sudan, on June 22, 2019. (AP)
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RSF Attack a City under Military Control in Central Sudan, Opening a New Front

Sudanese soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces unit, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy head of the military council, secure the area where Dagalo attends a military-backed tribe's rally, in the East Nile province, Sudan, on June 22, 2019. (AP)
Sudanese soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces unit, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy head of the military council, secure the area where Dagalo attends a military-backed tribe's rally, in the East Nile province, Sudan, on June 22, 2019. (AP)

Fighting continued to rage between Sudan’s military and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in a city in a central province, officials said Sunday, opening yet another front in a fourteen-month war that has pushed the African country to the brink of famine.

The RSF began its offensive on the Sennar province earlier this week, attacking the village of Jebal Moya before moving to the city of Singa, the provincial capital, authorities said, where fresh battles have erupted.

On Saturday, the group claimed in a statement it had seized the military’s main facility, the 17th Infantry Division Headquarters in Singa. Local media also reported the RSF managed to breach the military’s defense.

However, Brig. Nabil Abdalla, a spokesperson for the Sudanese armed forces, said the military regained control of the facility, and that fighting was still underway Sunday morning.

Neither claim could be independently verified.

According to the UN’s International Organization for Migration, at least 327 households had to flee from Jebal Moya and Singa to safer areas.

“The situation remains tense and unpredictable,” it said in a statement.

The latest fighting in Sennar comes while almost all eyes are on al-Fasher, a major city in the sprawling region of Darfur that the RSF has besieged for months in an attempt to seize it from the military. Al-Fasher is the military's last stronghold in Darfur.

Sudan’s war began in April last year when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum and elsewhere in the country.

The devastating conflict has killed more than 14,000 people and wounded 33,000 others, according to the United Nations, but rights activists say the toll could be much higher.

It created the world’s largest displacement crisis with over 11 million people forced to flee their homes. International experts warned Thursday that that 755,000 people are facing famine in the coming months, and that 8.5 million people are facing extreme food shortages.

The conflict has been marked by widespread reports of rampant sexual violence and other atrocities — especially in Darfur, the site of a genocide in the early 2000s. Rights groups say the atrocities amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.