A Palestinian Authority terrorist incarcerated in an Israeli prison has been freed after carrying out a 56-day hunger strike.
“Khader Adnan, who was in administrative detention, was released” Saturday night, Israel Prison Service spokesperson Sivan Weizman told the AFP news agency.
Adnan was among those who were arrested in response to the abduction and murder of three yeshiva teens in Gush Etzion in June 2014. The senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist leader has been detained 10 times under the “administrative detention” policy that allows Israel to hold a suspect for a renewable term of up to six months without charge.
It’s not clear why Israel held Adnan in administrative detention rather than indicting, prosecuting and convicting him.
He ended his hunger strike on June 28 after a deal was reached to secure his release. The Gaza-based PIJ had threatened to unleash a campaign of terror if Adnan died in custody. Adnan has carried out longer hunger strikes in past years to secure his release, including a 66-day stint in 2013. During this past hunger strike he was maintained under medical supervision at the clinic in Ramle prison.
He was transferred by IDF officials at the Arava Junction, 12 kilometers southwest of Jenin, to the Palestinian Military District Coordination office, which took him to a hospital for a medical checkup, according to a report on the International Middle East Media Center website.
The Jenin resident (Samaria), 37, is a father of six children. He’s been arrested numerous times by Israel and has spent six years in prison, according to numerous news agencies.