RAMALLAH, September 22, 2016 (WAFA) – A hunger striker who ended on Wednesday more than 70 days of fast and was due for release on Thursday will nevertheless remain in hospital until he recovers, a Palestinian prisoners’ advocacy group said on Thursday.

Malik Qadi, 19, a student at al-Quds University in Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem, who went on hunger strike to protest his administrative detention in Israel without charge or trial, agreed to end his fast after the Israeli authorities agreed not to renew his four-month detention order and release him on Thursday, the last day of his four-month detention.

However, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Commission, Qadi will remain at Wolfson hospital in Israel, where he was transferred due to deterioration in his health when he was on long hunger strike, for two weeks to recover before he can go home.

It said that the doctors have recommended that Qadi remain in hospital because moving him at this stage could jeopardize his life due to heart and lung complications as a result of the fast. 

Qadi will remain in hospital as a patient and not as prisoner, it said.

Two other prisoners who were on prolonged hunger strike, Mohammad Balboul, 25, and his younger brother, Mahmoud, 23 and who have also ended their fast on Wednesday after more than 76 days will be released on December 8 according to the agreement reached with Israeli officials.

M.A.