Israel Keeps Palestinian Hunger Striker in Hospital, Lifts Detention

Israel on Wednesday suspended a detention-without-trial order on ailing Palestinian hunger striker Mohammed Allan without releasing him, ordering him to stay in hospital pending a final decision on his fate.

"Due to the petitioner's medical condition he will remain in intensive care," said the ruling on Allan's case, seen by AFP.

"This means that for now, owing to the hunger striker's medical condition, the administrative detention order is no longer operative."

But the court did not say that Allan was now a free man.

"After his condition stabilizes, if Allan asks to be moved to another hospital he is to apply to the authorities and in the case of difficulty or disagreement it will be possible to turn to the court," it added.

Cabinet minister Miri Regev of Prime Minister Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party slammed the ruling.

"The High Court gave in to blackmail by the terrorist Mohammed Allan instead of applying the law on forced feeding," Regev, who is culture minister, tweeted.

She was referring to a law passed last month allowing prisoners to be force-fed when their lives are in danger.

The case of Allan, 31, whose two-month hunger strike has put his life at risk, has put intense pressure on Israeli authorities, who have detained him without charge since November.

The authorities fear his death in Israeli custody could further fan the flames of Palestinian unrest.

He regained consciousness Tuesday after being in a coma for several days but pledged to resume fasting if Israel did not resolve his case within 24 hours.

While unconscious, doctors gave him fluids, vitamins and minerals by intravenous drip.

- Brain damage -

Earlier Wednesday, the head of the hospital where he is being treated told a televised news conference he appeared to have suffered brain damage.

"There is damage which appears to have been caused by a lack of a particular vitamin," said Chezy Levy, director of Barzelai hospital in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. 

"I do not know at the moment if the damage is completely reversible, to what extent or when," he said. 

The court said that for now Allan should be treated like other hospital patients.

"His family and friends will be able to visit him, not as a prisoner, subject to the usual medical instructions on visiting the sick," the ruling said.

Allan has been held in what Israel calls administrative detention, which allows for internment without charge for six-month periods that can be renewed indefinitely.

His lawyers argue his condition negates the claim of Israeli authorities that he poses a security risk.

Israel uses administrative detention to hold Palestinians deemed to be security risks, while not divulging what the authorities view as sensitive intelligence. 

The measure has also been used against Jewish extremists, though far more rarely.

The Palestinian militant movement Islamic Jihad describes Allan, a lawyer from the West Bank, as a member, as does Israel.

Around 340 Palestinians are currently held in administrative detention, and detainees have regularly gone on hunger strike to protest.

While Allan was not well-known several weeks ago, his case has captured the attention of the Palestinian public and made international headlines.

There are fears his death could lead to an escalation of violence in the occupied West Bank, with tensions having already increased following last month's firebombing of a Palestinian home that killed an 18-month-old baby and his father.

The firebombing has been attributed to Jewish extremists.

Since the July 31 attack, Israeli security forces have shot dead three Palestinians carrying out stabbings.

On Wednesday night, an Israeli soldier near the West Bank settlement of Har Gilo was lightly injured when an "improvised explosive device" was thrown at his lookout post.    

But while concerned over a potential upsurge in unrest, Israeli authorities are also reluctant to be seen as bowing to what they view as "blackmail" by detainees.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said earlier Wednesday that Allan's release "would constitute a reward for his hunger strike and could encourage mass hunger strikes among security detainees".

He also lashed out at the Israeli Medical Association for its vocal opposition to force feeding.