Snatched Gazan Ends Israeli Prison Hunger Strike

A Palestinian from Gaza who was snatched from Ukraine and locked in an Israeli prison has ended a week-long hunger strike, Palestinian militants and an Israeli official said on Thursday.

Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said on its website that Dirar Abu Sisi ended his protest on Wednesday after reaching an unspecified agreement with officials at Eshel prison, near the southern Israeli city of Beersheva.

Israel Prison Service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman confirmed in a text message to Agence France Presse that Abu Sisi had ended the fast he began on August 20. She did not elaborate.

Abu Sisi, an engineer who was former technical director at Gaza's sole electricity plant, created a sensation when in early 2011 he disappeared while travelling on a train in Ukraine.

Israel later announced it was holding him and intended to put him on trial for "activity in a terrorist organization, hundreds of counts of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and arms production offences" as a member of Hamas, a summary of the charges said at the time.

Weizman said his trial was still ongoing.

Hamas never officially acknowledged his membership in the militant organisation, but Palestinian sources confirm he was a member.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades website did not claim him as a member, but said the prison had met his demands to be removed from solitary confinement and be allowed to call his family once a month.