Palestinian Political Prisoner Khader Adnan assassinated in Israel prison
By Desire Tshuma
Israeli Occupation forces have assassinated popular Palestinian political prisoner Khader Adnan who has been on hunger strike for 86 days in a Israel jail protesting for his illegal detention.
“We hold the apartheid Israel occupation regime fully responsible for his death and we call for an international investigation into this latest crime,” said Ambassador Dr Tarmer Almassri.
The late Adnan was a father of nine from the town of Arraba, south of the Northern West Bank city of Jenin. He was detained on February 5 under the so-called administrative detention policy where Palestinians are arrested on fabricated ‘secret evidence’ unaware of the accusations against them and are not allowed to defend themselves in court. They are usually held for renewable six month periods that often lead to years in detention without trial.
“The Israel occupation forces deliberately assassinated Adnan by rejecting his request for release, neglecting him medical attention and keeping him in shackled despite the seriousness of his health conditions. He was arrested 12 times during his lifetime and went on strike several times in protest against his detention without any charges,” explained Dr Almassri.
Since the beginning of year 2023 to date, there are 4900 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israel jails. More than 1 000 have been held without charge which includes women and children.
The Palestinian Ambassador to Zimbabwe went further to tell this publication that the assassination of Khader Adnan is an implementation of the current Israel government’s policies, especially Hamer Ben-Gvir who is responsible for the prisons and who has made matters more difficult for heroic Palestinian prisoners. He said this was against international treaties regarding the treatment of prisoners of war as well as the international law and declaration of human rights.
“We therefore call on the progressive people’s governments and human rights organizations to condemn and hold the apartheid Israeli occupation government accountable for these heinous crimes and protect our people,” concluded Ambassador Almassri.