UN concerned about two Palestinians on hunger strike

The U.N. envoy for the Middle East has expressed concern for the health of two Palestinians who are on hunger strike in Israeli detention.

Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh have been refusing food for 66 days to protest their administrative detention.

The envoy, Robert Serry, said Thursday he was “deeply troubled” by the situation and urged Israel to “preserve the health of the prisoners.”

Sahar Francis of the Palestinian prisoners group Addameer says the two are in critical condition. A spokeswoman for Israel’s prisons service would not comment on the strikers’ condition.

Israel does not give details of suspicions against administrative detainees.

Both men belong to the terrorist group Islamic Jihad, which has carried out attacks that have killed Israeli civilians.

On Thursday, Diab and Halahleh appeared before the Supreme Court to appeal their administrative detention, the lawyer representing the two told AFP.

Use of administrative detention allows military courts to have people detained for up to six months, a period which can be renewed indefinitely.

Jamil Khatib, the two detainees' lawyer, told AFP, "The appeal focused on two sides, the illegality of administrative detention in general, in terms of why they are being held, and secondly why Thaer and Bilal took this step to shed light on administrative detention."

Khatib said Halahleh addressed the court and spoke "about his arrest and the violations that were committed against him and why he decided to go through with his hunger strike."

"He spoke about his right to a good life and his right to see his daughter, who was born while he was in administrative detention," the lawyer told AFP.

It was unclear at time of publication when the Supreme Court would issue a ruling on the appeal.

Judge Amnon Rubenstein "announced that the panel of judges would make a decision after reviewing the 'secret file,'" AFP reported quoting a statement by Addameer, the prisoners' rights group.

"But after the review (he) stated that the parties would be informed at a later time, without specifying when," the statement said.

The Physicians for Human Rights-Israel group has warned that Diab and Halahleh are in danger of losing their lives. Khatib told AFP that Diab, who has been in especially poor condition, had fainted during the court session and was treated by MK Ahmad Tibi, a doctor, who attended the hearing.

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