Israel is struggling to find a medic who would force-feed a Palestinian prisoner who has been on hunger strike for over 50 days.
Authorities have transferred Mohammed Allaan, an alleged Islamic Jihad member held without charge since November, to a new medical centre after his hospital inBeersheva objected to carrying out blood tests against his will.
But medics in the second hospital, Barzilai Medical Centre, are also refusing to force-feed Allaan, the lawyer of the prisoner said on Wednesday.
"Medics have so far decided to stick to the ruling by the Israel’s Medical Association and the rights of the patient law of 1996," both of which state that force-feeding is a form of torture, lawyer Jamil al-Khatib told Al Jazeera.
Last month, Israel's parliament passed into law the ability to force-feed prisoners on hunger strike.
Israel said it was concerned that hunger strikes by Palestinians in its jails could end in death and trigger waves of protests in the occupied West Bank.
'Blow for the government'
Israel's Medical Association urged Israeli doctors not to abide by the law.
"No medic is willing to infringe the association's decision, which dealt a blow for the Israeli government," al-Khatib said.
No comments:
Post a Comment