A Palestinian who has not eaten for months in protest at his detention by Israel is close to suffering a collapse, his mother said, after demonstrators called for him and others also on hunger strike to be released.
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Miqdad al-Qawasmi's weight has nearly halved since July 21, when he began refusing food and drinking only water with salt, his family says.
His protest, and parallel hunger strikes by five other detainees also from the West Bank, are in response to being placed in administrative detention, under which Israel can hold Palestinian terror suspects for up to 60 days without charge and extend that period with court approval.
The United Nations and European Union have criticized the practice.
Qawasmi was arrested in January. An Israeli security official said his administrative detention was "well-founded on intelligence that was presented to a court" regarding his involvement in activity linked to Hamas, the terrorist group that rules the Gaza Strip. This status had been suspended given his hospitalization, the official added.
