Israel to free hunger-strike Palestinian

A Palestinian suspected militant who survived a two-month hunger strike will be released in November after being held by Israel for a year without trial, the army said on Wednesday.

"After examining the case of Mohammed Allan, it has been agreed that so long as no new intelligence about him is received, his administrative detention will not be renewed," a statement said.

Allan was arrested in November and held since then under the measure known as administrative detention which allows imprisonment without trial for six-month periods renewable indefinitely.

In June he began a two-month hunger strike that brought him near death and also boosted tensions in the occupied West Bank.

Israel's High Court suspended his detention on August 19 as he was given medical treatment following his hunger strike, which twice left him in a coma.

His detention was renewed earlier this month after his health improved and he was released from hospital.

Allan then resumed his hunger strike, only to call it off two days later after what a lawyer for the Palestinian Prisoners Club described as "an explanation about his judicial situation".

His detention is scheduled to end on November 4.

The 31-year-old lawyer is said to be a member of the militant group Islamic Jihad.

Israeli authorities allege that before his arrest in November, Allan "was in contact with an Islamic Jihad terrorist" with the aim of carrying out large-scale attacks.

He was previously imprisoned from 2006 to 2009 for allegedly seeking to recruit suicide bombers and aiding wanted Palestinians, Israeli security forces say.
Source: AFP