Two Palestinians continue hunger strikes in protest of detention without trial, for 97 and 62 days respectively

Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails, 40-year-old Khalil Awawdeh and 27-year-old Raed Rayan continue their individual hunger strikes in protest of their detention without charges. Khalil Awadeh has been refusing food for 97 days, while Raed Rayan is on the 62nd day without eating. 

Khalil Awawdeh, a father to four daughters, had been arrested five times in the past, three of which under the "Administrative Detention" system, without charges or foreseeable release.

He was arrested again last September and given an administrative detention order. Shortly after, he initiated an individual hunger strike demanding his release.

Raed Rayan, single, was arrested last November and was given an administrative detention order for six months. In early April, the Israeli military court renewed Rayan's detention for six additional months. He then began his hunger strike.

Khalil Awawdeh is a father of four that want to see his children grow up in front of his eyes.

Raed Rayan is a young man at beginning of his life.

They know that if they do not take this step, they will end up in administrative detention for years!#FreeRaed#FreeKhalil pic.twitter.com/yv8edaRhz3

— ق.ض 𓂆 (@jalestinian) June 5, 2022

"Both Khalil Awawdeh and Raed Rayan are in Ramleh prison clinic, but Awawdeh has been taken to an Israeli civil hospital several times and returned to Ramlah," Ayah Shreiteh, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoners' Club told The New Arab.

"On Monday, Awawdeh's lawyer visited him and reported that he was weak, unable to concentrate, that he had nausea multiple times during the visit and couldn’t finish it," she pointed out.

"Raed's lawyer visited him a week ago and reported that his health condition had deteriorated," added Shreiteh. "He has lost a lot of weight and suffers pain in the limbs."

"Our youngest daughter is a year and a half old, and the oldest is nine," Dalal, Khalil Awawdeh's wife, told The New Arab. "The four of them understand that their father is detained by the Israelis, they have become familiar with protests in their support."

"They are constantly talking and asking about him," Dalal added. "They feel that their father is in danger and think about him all day long."

“Don't wait until my father is martyred to start talking about him..”

A heart wrenching message from the daughter of prisoner Khalil Awawdeh who is on hunger strike for 93 days..

Support him from now!#الحرية_لخليل_عواودة #FreeKhalil pic.twitter.com/mCRgeNqlXI

— Palestine captives (@Palestinecapti1) June 3, 2022

"This is the second time that Raed goes through administrative detention," his mother told The New Arab. "Although the first time was difficult, this time is much more difficult for his father and me," she stressed.

"We sit all day long beside the phone, expecting the next call by the lawyer who might have news about him, thinking without stopping about what he is going through, not being able to do anything else," she said.

"Yesterday the lawyer called his father and told him that Raed has lost half his weight, and no more news," she added.

From Manchester, activists performed theatre at Market Street, depicting Palestinian's arrest by Israeli forces, during a solidarity protest with the hunger-striking Palestinian detainees Khalil Awawdeh and Raed Rayan. pic.twitter.com/kiF17FXEHZ

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) June 5, 2022

According to the Prisoners’ Club, the Israeli authorities in the jails have not responded to any of the two detainees' demands.

Some 600 Palestinian administrative detainees are currently boycotting Israeli court hearings. The boycott started in January, demanding the end of the administrative detention policy.

Some 4650 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including 600 without charges under the administrative detention system, according to human rights groups.

On Monday and Tuesday, Israeli forces arrested 31 Palestinians in the West Bank.