RAMALLAH, February 16, 2017 (WAFA) – Two Palestinians held in Israel in administrative detention started on Thursday an open-ended hunger strike in protest against their detention, said the Detainees Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.

Jamal Abu Leil and Raed Mteir, from Qalandia refugee camp north of Jerusalem, started the hunger strike to protest their administrative detention after it was extended.

Abu al-Leil, a former member of Fatah Revolutionary Council, served one year in administrative detention following his arrest on February 14 of last year, and Mteir, who serves as head of Qalandiya Youth Center, was detained on April 12 and slammed with two administrative detention orders each for six months.

The commission warned that Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons could resort to hunger strike in the coming days if the prison authorities continue to keep holding them in administrative detention for prolonged periods.

Administrative detention allows for internment without charge or trial for six-month intervals that can be renewed indefinitely. The policy has been strongly criticized by the international community as well as both Israeli and Palestinian rights activists.

Many Palestinians have gone on hunger strike to protest the practice, including Muhammad Allan, Khader Adnan and Mohammad Qiq, who were released following more than two months of hunger strike.

K.F./M.K.