Labadi, Meri health deteriorates as activists rally

AMMAN — The health condition of Jordanian detainees Hiba Abdul Baqi Labadi and Abdulrahman Adnan Abdullah Meri in Israel has been deteriorating since the beginning of their administrative detention, according to the National Committee for Prisoners in Israel. 

Upon learning of her six-month detention, Labadi went on a hunger strike to protest against the ruling. 

"Hiba was taken to hospital twice this week. She spent three days there; she cannot drink water now and throws up if she tries to due to a sore throat that is also affecting her chest," Fadi Farah, spokesperson of the committee, told The Jordan Times on Tuesday over the phone. 

"The condition might lead to a heart problem, as her heart muscle has become so weak," Farah added.

In regards to Meri, Farah said that his situation is “not easy”, as he needs continuous medical supervision, since he has been a cancer patient for nine years. This supervision has been “intentionally ignored” in Israeli prisons.

"The Israeli prisons give Meri only Acamol, a drug for headaches, which is like Aspirin," Farah noted, reiterating that Meri was sentenced to four months. 

Farah highlighted the urgency of freeing Labadi and Meri from the Israeli prisons because administrative detention is "easily extendable if the Israeli occupation authorities decide.” 

Activists went into the hospital to protest Labadi's detention, but the Israeli occupation forces prevented them from reaching her room, Farah said, noting that a plan for another protest to show solidarity with the detainees was scheduled for Tuesday evening.

There are currently a total of 22 Jordanians jailed in Israeli prisons, some of whom have received a life sentence and others who were sentenced to over 20 years, according to figures given to The Jordan Times earlier by the National Committee for Prisoners in Israel.

The two youths are undergoing the same torture and horrendous treatment as the rest of the detainees, who also suffer from ill-treatment by Israeli forces, Farah said earlier in mid-October. 

The Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it will spare no efforts to guarantee the release of Labadi and Meri.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Sufian Qudah voiced Jordan's rejection of the Israeli military court rulings that validated the administrative arrest of Labadi and Meri, saying that they are “void and unacceptable”.