Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qeeq is currently jailed by the Israeli occupation without charge or trial under administrative detention. He has launched a hunger strike to demand his freedom and an end to administrative detention. On 22 February, after 17 days on hunger strike, he was suddenly transferred to the Ramle prison hospital after a decline in his health. 

Al-Qeeq is one of nearly 550 Palestinians imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention. Administrative detention orders are issued for one to six month periods, but are indefinitely renewable, which means that Palestinians can be held for years on end without charge or trial at the order of the Israeli occupation military. These orders are issued on the basis of "secret evidence" to which both the detainee and their lawyer is denied access. Administrative detention as practiced by the Israeli state is a systematic mechanism of colonial repression and violates international law.

This is Mohammed al-Qeeq's second time on hunger strike. In 2016, he conducted a 94-day hunger strike to win his freedom from administrative detention without charge or trial, winning his release in May 2016.

Administrative detention violates international law and Palestinian human rights. When international agencies and officials are silent, it provides yet more space for Israeli administrative detention to continue. We urge you to contact the Israeli government and officially express your concern for the health of Mohammed al-Qeeq and call for his immediate release and the end of the policy of administrative detention.