RAMALLAH, February 25, 2016 (WAFA) - Premier Rami Hamdallah Thursday called on Médecins sans Frontières to put pressure on Israel for the release of hunger-striking detainee Muhammad al-Qiq.
Hamdallah met a International President of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) Joanne Liu and her delegation at his office in Ramallah. The meeting was attended by Health Minister Jawad Awad.
During the meeting, Hamdallah called on MSF to immediately intervene to oblige Israel to stop the policy of deliberate medical negligence against Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody.
He briefed Liu and her delegation on the extrajudicial killings of Palestinians, especially children, by Israeli forces since the beginning of violent unrest in Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories in early October 2015.
He also briefed them on the obstructed delivery of medical equipment to Gaza as a result of the ongoing Israeli blockade and highlighted the need for joint coordination to provide health care services for Palestinians in West Bank C Area.
Al-Qiq could die at any moment following a 93-day hunger strike in protest of his administrative detention without trial or charge.
Palestinian dailies Thursday reported Hiba Masalha, an attorney for the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees’ Committee, as expressing concerns that al-Qiq could suddenly die at any moment as a result of a heart attack.
Meanwhile, Israel continued to refuse al-Qiq’s wife, Fayha Shalash, and their two young children to visit him during what is feared to be his final hours.
Al-Qiq’s family said that he is in “God’s hands” following Israel’s failure to respond to a compromise to move al-Qiq to a Palestinian hospital in Jerusalem.
Minister and Head of Detainees’ Affairs Committee Issa Qaraqe suggested to Al-Jazeera that Israel’s silence and lack of action id a proof of its “deliberate intention” to let al-Qiq die.
Al-Qiq has said that he would not end his strike unless he was transferred to a West Bank hospital.
However, he agreed to be transferred to a Palestinian hospital in East Jerusalem on condition the Israeli authorities promised his administrative detention order would not be renewed.
Earlier this month, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled to temporarily suspend al-Qiq’s administrative detention, a move which implies that the detention would be reinstated if his health improves.
K.F.
