Hader Adnan, a senior figure in the Palestinian Islamist movement Islamic Jihad, who went on hunger strike for 87 days to protest his detention in Israel, died on Tuesday, sources cited by AFP and Reuters said.

Shortly after this announcement, rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel. According to the press release of the Israeli army, three rockets fell on open ground.

Hader Adnan, originally from Jenin, in the occupied north of the West Bank, was repeatedly imprisoned by Israel and went on hunger strike several times, becoming a symbol of the Palestinians.

The Palestinian prison administration announced the death of Adnan, who was “found unconscious in his cell” on Tuesday morning and was later hospitalized. Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, an association that defends the rights of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, confirmed to AFP the death of Hader Adnan, aged 45.

Israel “will pay the price for this crime”

He started a hunger strike from the moment of his imprisonment on February 5, on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization, the administration of the colony reported.

Israel “will pay the price for this crime,” said a statement from Islamic Jihad, a movement that Israel, the United States and the European Union consider “terrorist.” “The free hero Hader Adnane died a martyr’s death as a result of a crime committed by an enemy in the eyes of the world who condones injustice and terrorism, protects and covers him,” the message added.

The president of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, Kaddoura Fares, told AFP that Adnan became the first Palestinian prisoner to die in an Israeli prison after a hunger strike.

In August 2022, three days of clashes between Israel and Islamic Jihad left 49 Palestinians dead, including 12 members of the Islamist movement, according to the UN, and at least 19 children, according to the UN.

About 200 rockets were fired by the “Islamic Jihad” in the direction of Israel, as a result of which three people were injured. Egypt then negotiated an armistice agreement.

Although he starved for 87 days, he refused medical assistance

Hader Adnan’s wife Randa Moussa explained to AFP on Friday that he was refusing “any help and any medical examination”.

“He is in a cell with very difficult conditions. He was refused transfer to a civilian hospital and the admission of a lawyer to him,” added the detainee’s wife.

According to the administration of the correctional colony, he “refuses to undergo a medical examination and provide assistance.”

Adnan was placed under administrative detention, a controversial provision that allows Israel to imprison Palestinians without charge or trial.