A high-profile Palestinian prisoner died in Israeli custody on Tuesday after a hunger strike of nearly three months, Israel’s prison service announced. His death set off protests in the West Bank and a round of cross-border fighting between Gaza militants and the Israeli military.
The death of Khader Adnan has also drawn attention to the tactic of hunger strikes—used by prisoners around the world yet considered a particularly crucial tool for Palestinians held by Israel with few other means at their disposal. Adnan, 45, a leader of the militant Islamic Jihad group, helped introduce the practice of protracted hunger strikes by individual prisoners as a form of protest. Palestinian detainees have mostly used hunger strikes to challenge administrative detention, a controversial tactic in which more than 1,000 Palestinians and a handful of Israelis are currently being held without charge or trial.
After the news of his death broke, Palestinian militants in Gaza fired 26 rockets at populated areas in southern Israel, sending shrapnel flying. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh called it an “assassination,” accusing Israel of medical neglect. The Israeli military responded with tank fire into Gaza and said it was planning further retaliation. The current Israeli government, the most right-wing in the country’s history, has vowed to take a hard line against the Palestinians.
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