Father of teen imprisoned in Israel ends hunger strike

AMMAN — Mahdi Suleiman ended his hunger strike on Thursday night after the Foreign Ministry secured a visa for him to visit his imprisoned son in Israel.

Mohammad, who was 16 years old when he was arrested by Israeli occupation forces in March 2013, was visiting relatives in the West Bank at the time.

“I’m waiting for the procedures to finish so that I can travel to see my son Mohammad whom I haven’t seen since he was arrested,” the father of the youngest Jordanian prisoner in Israel told The Jordan Times.

The 58-year-old started his open-ended hunger strike last Sunday near the Foreign Ministry, demanding to see his son.

Mahdi was admitted to hospital on the first day of the strike due to hypertension and diabetes, and spent two hours there, then continued with the hunger strike, which included abstaining from medicines, although he has to take nine kinds of medication for blood pressure, diabetes and brain strokes.

“The ministry was exerting every possible effort to secure a visa for Mahdi, until a visa was issued on Thursday,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Sabah Al Rafie said, adding that it is always following up on prisoners’ cases.

There are 25 Jordanians in Israeli jails, according to Fedaa, the media team supporting Jordanian prisoners in Israel. 

Mohammad faces 27 charges, two of which are attempted murder and injuring 18 Israeli occupation soldiers, and has attended more than 50 court hearings, the last one on May 20, which was adjourned without specifying a date for the next session.