Former Palestinian hunger striker re-arrested

Khader Adnan, a senior Islamic Jihad operative who carried out two long hunger strikes while a prisoner of Israel, has been rearrested near Ramallah in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian media. 

Witnesses told Maan news agency that an Israeli military vehicle stopped Adnan's car when he was driving near Silwad village east of Ramallah and detained him. The sources did not know where and on what charges he was being held. 

Adnan was released in July last year after he undertook a 55-day hunger strike to protest his administrative detention - internment without trial or charge.

Adnan was originally arrested in 2011 but on that occasion undertook a 66-day hunger strike in 2012 before being released. He was then arrested again and last year held another 56-day hunger strike, which caused him to suffer serious medical complications before the Israeli authorities ordered his released. 

An Israeli official at the time stressed that his release was made possible by Adnan withdrawing his demand to end his hunger strike only once Israel pledged to never place him under administrative detention again. 

Adnan's reported re-arrest comes during a particularly tense time in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Since October, there has been an almost daily spate of attacks by largely young Palestinians, who have allegedly tried to stab and occasion run over or shoot Israelis in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Israel.

On Monday, a 15-year-old female teenager was stabbed in Jerusalem and lightly wounded, Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported.

Police said that the assailant, a 16-year-old male from north Jerusalem, had hoped to attack police officers but was quickly apprehended and stopped.

The previous Friday evening a Palestinian citizen of Israel, named by police as Nashat Melhem, fired on a bar in Tel Aviv, killing two people and injuring several others. The alleged assailant is still on the run, with police saying he could be planning to carry out further attacks.

Since the spike in violence began in early October, Israeli security services have killed more than 140 Palestinians. Many of these have been alleged attackers, although Palestinians and rights groups have in some cases disputed Israel's version of events and criticised Israeli authorities for using lethal force unnecessarily. More than 20 people have also been killed on the Israeli side.