Detained Palestinian journalist stages hunger strike

By Lubaba Thuqan

RAMALLAH, Palestine

A Palestinian journalist has staged an open-ended hunger strike in protest of his detention by Israeli forces, a Palestinian NGO said on Wednesday.

Alaa al-Rimawi, 40, the director of Al-Quds TV office in the West Bank, was arrested during an Israeli raid on his home on Monday.

“He has gone on hunger strike on the first day of his arrest to protest his detention,” the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said in a statement.

Israeli forces have detained four other Palestinian journalists in raids in the West Bank this week.

According to Palestinian figures, approximately 6,500 Palestinians are currently languishing in Israeli prisons, including scores of women and some 350 minors.