JERUSALEM (MCT) — A Palestinian woman who went on a hunger strike to protest her detention by the Israeli military was deported to the Gaza Strip on Sunday in a deal that prohibits her from returning to her home in the West Bank for three years.
Hana Shalabi, who was accused of being a member of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, was arrested by Israel in February and held without charge. She immediately began a hunger strike to protest Israel’s use of so-called administrative detention, a practice under which several hundred Palestinians are held indefinitely without charges.
In February, an Islamic Jihad member held under administrative detention, Khader Adnan, ended his 66-day hunger strike after being assured that he would be released April 17 and that his detention would not be renewed.
Shalabi, from the West Bank city of Jenin, was among those released last year in the prisoner exchange for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Israeli authorities had held her in administrative detention since 2009 on suspicion of plotting a suicide attack but she was never charged, military officials said.
She was arrested again Feb. 16 on suspicion of preparing to participate in an attack against Israelis, military officials said.
However, family members told Palestinian media that she had not been active with Islamic Jihad since her release last year.
On Sunday, Shalabi was sent to the Gaza Strip, after a brief visit with her West Bank relatives.
