Record-breaking hunger striker freed

Israeli forces have released a Palestinian hunger striker who went without food for a record 77 days. Thaer Halahla, 33, held a 77-day strike to protest his detention without charge by Israel. He agreed to the deal with prison authorities on May 14 in exchange for release at the end of his current administrative detention term. Halahla said the moment he arrived in Palestine through Beit Sira, west of Ramallah, he felt "a mixture of joy, sorrow and pain for leaving his loved ones", referring to fellow hunger striker Bilal Diab and the other Palestinian prisoners still imprisoned in Israel. Halahla has returned to his hometown of Kharas, northwest of Hebron in the southern West Bank to "embrace his family and young daughter Lamar". He was brought into Hebron by Palestinian ambulance, as hundreds of Palestinians gathered to celebrate his arrival at the city’s northern entrance. Halahla told the crowds that fellow hunger-striker Bilal Diab had been close to death at moments of their strike. Diab wept as he said farewell to Halahla on his release, he added. Diab is expected to be released in August. "A people with citizens like Hana Shalabi, Khader Adnan, Mahmoud al-Sirsik, and Bilal Diab would never kneel before occupation, as the (Israeli) occupation fears the strong will of Palestinian prisoners," Halahla said, referencing leaders of a wave of hunger-strikes in Israeli jails. Halahla said Sirsik's "life is in real danger." The former national soccer player has been on hunger strike since March 19 to protest his detention on secret charges. Sirsik, an administrative detainee from Gaza, is demanding to be recognised as a prisoner of war. He began refusing food on March 23, and went 53 days without eating before a short break on May 14 when the deal was signed. He restarted his strike a day later. Akram Rikhawi, who has served six years of a nine-year sentence, is demanding that the prison authority hand over his medical file prior to him appearing before a prison release committee to expedite his release. The two are in the infirmary at Ramle prison near Tel Aviv. They were were among more than 1500 prisoners who fasted for varying periods until May 14, when a deal with Israeli authorities for better conditions was struck. Those held without trial in what Israel calls "administrative detention" were promised that they would go free at the end of their current term -- unless fresh evidence emerged against them. Halahla also urged Hamas and Fatah to end their dispute and implement a May 2011 reconciliation agreement. The prisoner earlier talked in a meeting held in the clinic of Ramle prison with the legal director of the Palestine Prisoners' Club, lawyer Jawad Boulos, as well as fellow prisoner Diab. He explained he would try and get treatment for the effects the hunger strike had on his health after he returned home. Halahla was apparently on hunger strike for 77 days, placing him into the Guinness book of World Records. Israeli and Palestinian authorities alike feared he would die after his deteriorating health. The rebel was born in 1979 in Kharas. His daughter Lamar was born after he was arrested by Israeli forces on June 27, 2010 under "administrative detention", which allows imprisonment without charge or indictment and without trial, periods up to six months that can be renewed an unlimited number of times. Halahla was detained for nearly seven years. Thaer decided to follow the footsteps of Palestinian activist Khedr Adnan, who was one of the first to go on hunger strike behind bars to protest his detention. Adnan was on strike for 66 days before he was released. Israeli authorities released former hunger-striker Thaer Halahla from Israeli jail on Tuesday night to crowds of supporters in the southern West Bank.