Palestinian leftists on hunger strike in Israeli jails
Dozens of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have launched a hunger strike in solidarity with Bilal Kayed, a fellow detainee who has been hospitalised in Israel as his health plummets due to his own, extended hunger strike.
Kayed, a 35-year-old from the Nablus area of the occupied West Bank, has been on hunger strike for 37 days to protest against being held without charge or trial.
He launched his strike on June 15, the day he was scheduled to be released from an Israeli prison after more than 14 years behind bars since 2001.
Kayed had been charged with being a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a political party with an armed wing banned by Israel.
Just hours before his scheduled release, Kayed was informed that he was being placed under administrative detention, a practice in which Israel jails Palestinians for renewable six-month intervals on "secret evidence" without trial or charge.