A Palestinian prisoner who refused food for eight months has ended his hunger strike after a deal was reached with Israeli authorities for his early release, his lawyer and the military said.
Samer Issawi began refusing food in August in protest over his re-arrest last July. His strike became a rallying cry for Palestinians, who saw the 33-year-old from Jerusalem as a symbol of their struggle against Israel. Palestinian rallies in support of him turned violent on occasion.
Israeli officials feared that wider unrest could break out if anything happened to Issawi, whose weight plummeted. Several weeks ago he was sent to hospital because his health deteriorated.
Lawyer Jawad Bulous said Israeli military prosecutors had agreed early on Tuesday to release Issawi after he serves a further eight months, which means he should be released by the end of the year.
The lawyer said the deal was signed and that Issawi ended his hunger strike in the presence of his sister and uncle. The Israeli military confirmed the agreement but had no further details.
Issawi was sentenced in 2002 to 26 years in prison for his role in a series of shootings targeting police cars and students at Jerusalem's Hebrew University. He was released in 2011 as part of a deal that freed hundreds of Palestinians – many of them militants involved in fatal attacks – in exchange for the release of an Israeli soldier held in Gaza.
Under the terms of his release, Issawi was banned from entering the West Bank, but he travelled there three times. He also tried to convince an eyewitness to lie to Israeli security forces about his location, but later confessed to violating the terms of his release, said another lawyer who has overseen the case. That lawyer spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to be seen contradicting Issawi's supporters.
Issawi said security forces accused him of planning to kidnap Israeli soldiers and trying to amass weapons, but he has not been charged. He was arrested again in July and was expected to serve out the rest of his original sentence.
His lawyer said that to pressure Israeli authorities to come to a deal Issawi gambled with his life, refusing infusions of vitamins and minerals.
"No doubt, this is a big victory for Samer," Bulous said. The hunger strike "forced the Israeli side to reverse their position".
The prisoner issue is deeply sensitive for Palestinians, many of whom have a family member behind bars. There are about 4,500 Palestinians in Israeli jails for sentences ranging from throwing stones to killing civilians, according to figures from Israeli prison authorities published in February.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/23/palestinian-hunger-striker-breaks-fast
