RAMALLAH, February 21, 2016 (WAFA) – The Detainees and Ex-Detainees affairs’ Commission Sunday said  the health of hunger striker, Journalist Mohammed al-Qiq, has witnessed an acute relapse, appealing to all relevant sides to save his life.

Minister of Prisoners Affairs, Issa Qaraqi, reported on the commission’s lawyer, Hanan al-Khateeb, as stressing the severe deterioration on al-Qiq’s health status, whose life is endangered after at least 89 days of hunger strike in protest of his administrative detention, without charge or trial.

The lawyer said that al-Qiq has entered a very dangerous stage, following unprecedented rapid heart attacks and spasms. She noted that al-Qiq is suffering from ongoing intense episodes of screaming and excruciating pain.

On February 16, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal submitted by the Detainees Commission to transfer al-Qiq to a Ramallah hospital.

On February 18, The family of al-Qiq said they wouldn’t object to transferring al-Qiq to a hospital in Jerusalem, as long it is a Palestinian hospital because they do not trust Israeli hospitals.

This announcement came after the family insisted al-Qiq will not agree to any offer that doesn’t guarantee transferring him to a hospital in Ramallah in order to be close to his family.

Al-Qiq, a 33-year-old Palestinian journalist, launched a hunger strike on November 25, 2015, in protest of being held in jail without charge or trial.  Since then, al-Qiq has been refusing to take nutritional supplements or undergo medical checkups.

Al-Qiq is the first Palestinian hunger striking detainee to be force-fed by Israeli authorities since the enactment of the force-feeding law by the Israeli Knesset in July 2015.

T.R.