Israel Refuses to Move Hunger Striking Prisoner to Ramallah

YERUSHALAYIM (AP) —

Israel’s Supreme Court has rejected a hunger striking Palestinian prisoner’s request to receive treatment in a Ramallah hospital.

Mohammed Al-Qeq stopped eating 84 days ago to protest his incarceration without trial. He’s being treated in a hospital in the Israeli city of Afula. Israel says al-Qeq, 33, is involved in terrorist activities linked to Hamas.

Al-Qeq refused an Israeli offer to move to a Palestinian hospital in eastern Yerushalayim because Israel could easily detain him again there after being discharged.

Qadura Fares, chairman of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, says Israel’s denial amounts to “a death sentence” for al-Qeq.

Judge Elyakim Rubinstein said in court Tuesday that Israel aims “to save his life but under no circumstances will we remove him from Israel’s borders.”

Palestinian sympathizers are planning protests in Ramallah.

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