RAMALLAH, Friday, August 12, 2022 (WAFA) – The health condition of Yousef al-Baz, a 64-year-old Palestinian detainee in Israeli jails, has deteriorated a day after he started a hunger strike in protest of his detention without charge or trial by the Israeli occupation authorities, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said today.

Al-Baz, a father of six and the imam of the Grand Mosque in the Palestinian city of Lod, was arrested by the Israeli authorities on April 30, and has been held without charge or trial ever since. Although an Israeli court has ordered his release, the Israeli intelligence and security forces have rejected his release, PPS added.

He started a hunger strike yesterday in protest of his unfair detention, and escalated the strike today by refusing to drink water.

Meantime, dozens of Palestinians and peace activists held a vigil in the city of Lod following the Friday prayer and sermon calling for Al-Baz’s immediate release.

M.N