Khader Adnan, a Palestinian man and prominent member of the militant group Islamic Jihad, has died in Israeli custody following a nearly three-month hunger strike. Adnan had been protesting his detention without trial, a practice known as administrative detention, since February. The death has outraged Palestinians and prompted fears of retaliation. Within hours of the announcement of his death, militants in Gaza fired 22 rockets towards Israel. Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system was able to intercept four of them. A 25-year-old man was seriously injured in the attack. Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have long vowed to strike Israel if a hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner died in Israeli custody. Israel has often freed prisoners or shortened their sentences after hunger strikes in the past, but Adnan’s death comes as Israel is led by its most right-wing government in history. Israel is currently holding more than 1,000 Palestinian detainees without charge or trial, the highest number since 2003.
The use of individual hunger strikes as a protest by detainees is common among Palestinians challenging administrative detention by Israel. The death of Adnan, who was on an 87-day hunger strike, has led to rallies in support of him in the West Bank as well as in blockaded Gaza. An umbrella group of Palestine factions claimed responsibility for rocket barrages directed towards Israel, the first since May. At least 26 rockets were fired, landing in open areas or being intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defence system, with three people, including a 25-year-old foreign national, being injured. The attack prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a military drill planned for the regions surrounding Gaza and put staff in security prisons on heightened alert. Israel says it has uncovered a Hamas network in the West Bank planning to kidnap Israelis across the Green Line.
Khader Adnan’s death marks the first Palestinian hunger-strike-related death in over three decades, prompting widespread controversy. Adnan’s detainment was not his first, as he had undergone at least three other such strikes for the same reasons in the past. Critics argue that Israeli officials refused medical care, thereby causing Adnan’s death. His lawyer claimed that they had insisted on moving him to a civilian medical facility, but this request was reportedly denied. Israel maintains that Adnan knew the risks of a prolonged hunger strike, with one official referring to him as “a hunger striker who refused medical attention, risking his life.” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, however, called Adnan’s death a “deliberate assassination”, accusing Israel of rejecting his request for release, neglecting him medically, and keeping him in his cell, despite his serious condition.
The issue of administrative detention has long been a source of tension between Palestinians and Israelis. Palestinians regard prisoners held by Israel as national heroes, while the Israeli government defines Palestinian detainees as terrorists. Protesters in the West Bank, including Adnan’s family, continue to demand his release, viewing him as a symbol of resistance against Israeli imprisonment. Many fear that his death could lead to further violent escalation, particularly given Israel’s recent election of a more right-wing government that has adopted a hard-line approach to issues that have long plagued the relationship between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
