Egypt’s intelligence service brokered the deal with Israel for the release of Khader Adnan, whose 67-day hunger strike due to being detained without charge ended four days ago, the English website of the Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Friday.
On Tuesday, the Israeli Justice Ministry said that Tel Aviv agreed to free the Palestinian in April.
The paper said that senior members of the Islamic Jihad movement, of which Adnan was a spokesmen, had contacted Egyptian intelligence officials: “They therefore urged Cairo to press Israel to release him when his current detention is due to end, on April 17, rather than slapping him with another detention order.”
”Egyptian intelligence passed on this request to the Defense Ministry and the Shin Bet security service. It also promised that, in exchange, Adnan was willing to end his hunger strike immediately. ”
Adnan has been on three hunger strikes in the past. His sister Maali Musa said her brother undertook a 14-day hunger strike in 1999 after he was imprisoned by Palestinian authorities for hurling rotten eggs at officials during a demonstration.
Haaretz revealed the name of one the Egyptian officials who negotiated for the release of Adnan. The paper alleged that Nader al-Asser, formerly Egypt's consul general in Tel Aviv, was the man who negotiated with Israel. It added that Asser was also involved in negotiations over the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit in October.
Adnan’s protest, the longest hunger strike by any Palestinian prisoner, attracted international attention and threw a spotlight on Israel’s use of administrative detention, a military procedure which allows suspects to be held without charge or trial indefinitely.
“Khadar has been an student activist for many years. He is no shadowy figure but an outspoken local leader against the Israeli occupation. He is well known to both the Israeli occupation authorities and the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. Both have detained him for various periods without charge,” wrote Randa Musa, Adnan’s wife, in the Guardian.
