Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan died in Israeli custody early on Tuesday after being on hunger strike for nearly three months. The 45-year-old went on hunger strikes several times after previous arrests, including a 55-day strike in 2015 to protest his detention without charge.
A medic from the group Physicians for Human Rights Israel visited Adnan in prison this week and warned that he “faces imminent death” and called for him to be “urgently transferred to a hospital”. The armed group Islamic Jihad warned Israel that it will “pay the price for this crime” as it called the father of nine a “martyr”.
The Israeli military said missiles fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip fell in open territory but caused no damage.
Adnan’s body potentially being moved for autopsy: AJ correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim reporting from Ramallah says according to Palestinian sources, Adnan’s body is being taken to a center in Israel for a potential autopsy.
“Maybe they’re taking the body for pictures. The family has said that any attempts to conduct an autopsy will be heavily criticised and will not be acceptable,” she added.
The family will only accept congratulations, Adnan’s wife says
Adnan’s wife, Randa Mousa, says at a news conference outside their house in the occupied West Bank town of Arrabeh, that her husband’s death is a point of “pride”.
“I was hoping that he would be with us today, … but it was his fate from God that he be martyred,” she said.
Mousa said despite Adnan saying he was dying, no one believed him until his eventual death.
“This will not be a funeral home. We will only accept those who want to congratulate us,” she said.
Doctor’s rights group says risk to Adnan’s life ignored
Physicians for Human Rights Israel says a doctor who had visited Adnan several days ago had written a medical opinion outlining the immediate risk to his life, but that those entreaties were ignored.
“Khader Adnan chose a hunger strike as a last resort, a non-violent means of protest against the oppression of himself and his people,” the group said in a statement.
Israel wants to ‘send a message’ to Palestinian prisoners
Qadri Abu Bakr, head of the Commission for the Affairs of Prisoners and Ex-Detainees in Ramallah, says through Adnan’s death Israel wanted to “send a message” to Palestinian prisoners that their fate would be death if they started a hunger strike.
“We will present what happened to the International Criminal Court because it is a full-fledged crime,” he added.
“Israel considers itself a state above the law. America and European countries ignore Israel’s crimes, and so Israel follows up on their crimes.”
Interactive: Israeli military raids into Palestinian homes
Almost every night between midnight and 5am, the Israeli army breaks into Palestinian homes across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Heavily armed and often masked, the soldiers arrive in groups of 10 to 100-plus and force their way into homes, sometimes blowing the door open.
Palestinians have been killed or injured during these military operations. Israeli night raids leave Palestinian families, particularly children, traumatised.
Read more here.
Hamas spokesman calls Khader’s death a ‘cold-blooded execution’
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem says Adnan’s death will be written in the “glory pages of our people”.
“What happened reveals the extent of terrorism and fascism of the so-called Prison Service, which deliberately killed Sheikh Khader in this way,” Qasem said in a statement.
“This crime represents a cold-blooded execution carried out by the Prison Service against the martyred prisoner Khader Adnan. … The path of revolution and resistance will escalate throughout Palestine in response to this crime and all the crimes of Israeli occupation.”
Adnan’s wife calls for body to be released: AJ correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Samir Abu Shammala reports from Jenin that Adnan’s wife says she is proud of her husband’s “martyrdom” and calls for his body to be released immediately.
“She demanded the Israel hand over her husband’s body and not subject it to an autopsy by Israeli authorities,” he said.
Infographic: How many Palestinians are imprisoned by Israel?
As of April, 4,900 Palestinians were held in Israeli jails in Israel and its occupied territory.
More than 1,000 were held without charge, include female and child prisoners.
Read more here.
One Israeli settler wounded in West Bank gunfire: Israeli sources
Al Jazeera’s Walid al-Omari, reporting from the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, says that according to Israeli sources, several settlers have been attacked in the northeastern West Bank.
“Israel announced that three cars belonging to settlers were shot at with one being lightly wounded,” he said, adding that the attacker fled the scene.
Al-Omari said a general strike has been called in the Palestinian territories.
Adnan’s death ‘very dangerous’: Palestine politician
Mustafa Barghouti, former Palestinian information minister and general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative political party, says Adnan’s death “is a very dangerous thing that has happened”.
The Israeli government and its national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, “are personally responsible for this act of assassination”, Barghouti told Al Jazeera.
“I call it an act of assassination because the Israeli government knew very well, and its military courts, that a person who is on hunger strike for 87 days, who had not received any kind of medical care, could die at any moment. And that’s exactly what has happened,” Barghouti said.
