Jordan calls on Israel to 'immediately release' jailed Palestinian on hunger strike

Hiba al-Labadi, who is Palestinian with Jordanian citizenship, was arrested at the Allenby Bridge crossing in August and has been on hunger strike since last month.
2 min read
17 October, 2019
More than 400 Palestinians are being currently being held under administrative detention. [Getty]

Jordan has called on Israel to "immediately release" one its citizens held in administrative detention since September.

Hiba al-Labadi, who is Palestinian with Jordanian citizenship, was arrested at the Allenby Bridge - King Hussein - crossing in August while travelling with her mother and aunt from Jordan to the West Bank for a cousin's wedding.

Al-Labadi launched a hunger strike on 26 September in protest of the conditions of her detention, her lawyer said on Wednesday, and has reportedly lost 10 kilograms in weight while suffering other health problems.

Jordan's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the hunger strike "makes the need for her immediate release more urgent".

Family members say she has no political causes and is not an activist.

Israeli intelligence says Al-Labadi was detained "because of suspicion of her involvement in serious security violations", without providing further details.

Last week, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees' Affairs released disturbing details of the alleged torture suffered by Hiba al-Labadi at the hands of Israeli authorities.

Read more: Palestinian hunger strikers: The frontline of an imprisoned nation

The department published a statement by al-Labadi from 29 September in which she reported being verbally, physically, and psychologically abused by the interrogators and guards in the various prisons in which she has been held in administrative detention since 20 August.

Israel's widely condemned policy of administrative detention allows Palestinians to be detained without charge or trial for renewable intervals usually ranging between three to six months.

More than 400 Palestinians are being currently being held under the policy.

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