A 58-year-old Palestinian mother Mukaram Qurt entered the 12th day of her hunger strike protesting her son’s prolonged detention in a Palestinian Authority (PA) prison.
28-year-old Ahmad Hreish, has been languishing in solitary confinement without trial or charge in the notorious Palestinian Authority Jericho Prison– referred to colloquially by activists as “Jericho’s slaughterhouse” for more than 80 days since his arrest on June 6, 2022.
Ahmad Hreish made headlines after he reported being tortured in custody.
“It’s like unjust administrative detention – they keep extending his detention without us, or even the lawyer, knowing the charges against him,” Qurt told Al Jazeera, referring to Israel’s controversial policy of detaining Palestinians for months or years without trial or charge.
Ahmed Hreish, does not know that his wife Fatima gave birth to their first-born son, Karam, on August 16, 2022.
As per media reports, Hreish’s detention has come as part of one of the largest political arrest campaigns conducted by the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority (PA) in years against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with at least 94 people arrested over the past two months.
Those arrested include university students and journalists.
The Palestinian Authority has long arrested members and supporters of its main rival political group, Hamas, which has been the de facto ruler of the besieged Gaza Strip since 2007 when it defeated Fatah in parliamentary elections. Fatah was expelled from the Strip as it attempted to preemptively occupy it, resulting in several weeks of fighting.
Hamas and Fatah have since ruled the Gaza Strip and West Bank respectively, with internal divisions plaguing Palestinian politics and both parties accused of suppressing dissent.
All of the arrests are based on the violation of freedom of expression, such as social media posts and chants during protests.
