RAMALLAH: Palestinian prisoner Akram Rikhawi will be released from Israeli detention Thursday, Ma'an News Agency reports. Presently being held in Ramleh prison, Israeli Prison Services (IPS) was supposed to release Rikhawi on January 24 as part of an agreement that ended his 102-day hunger strike last year. When IPS reneged on the terms of the agreement and failed to secure his release on January 24, Rikhawi immediately launched another hunger strike. His release, according to Ma'an, will end just four months short of completing a nine-year sentence. Rikhawi suffers from a number of health conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, and osteoporosis, according to Addameer Prisoner Support Network. Another three hunger strikers are still in Israeli military prisons: Jazzar Ezzedine, Tarek Qa'adan, and Samer Al-Issawi. According to Addameer, 4,743 Palestinians were being held in Israeli prisons as of January 1. From that total, 193 were children, 23 of whom are under 16-years-old. 178 are administrative detainees held on “secret evidence" without trial or charge. Israel decided to release Rikhawi during a hearing on Wednesday. He will return to his home in the southern Gaza Strip, where he will be greeted by his eight children. BN
