Administrative detention dodged a bullet on Tuesday [February 21]. On that day, Israel’s High Court of Justice held an emergency hearing and decided to approve a settlement between the government and the attorneys of Khader ‘Adnan, an administrative detainee who was on day 67 of his hunger strike. The decision was unprecedented: for the first time in the history of administrative detention, the government pledged not to prolong it. ‘Adnan decided to end his hunger strike later that day; he had won.
Originally, the court decided to hold the hearing two days later, on Thursday. That would have been day 69 of ‘Adnan’s hunger strike, coming too close to the threshold of 70 days of hunger, from which there is no recovery, only certain death. Someone in the government apparently decided this was courting PR disaster, and the court convened two days ahead of time, and saved ‘Adnan’s life.
