On Sunday the Supreme Court of Israel ruled to allow for the force-feeding of Palestinian prisoners who are on hunger strike. The ruling upheld a 2015 law to allow force-feeding as constitutional, despite a range of objections by Human Rights organisations and the Israeli Medical Association (IMA),Maan News reports.

Hunger strikes have become a high profile means by which Palestinians can peacefully resist their capture and detainment by Israeli authorities. There are currently three Palestinians – detained without charge – in Israeli prisons currently on hunger strike one of which, Al-Qadi, 25, slipped into a coma on Saturday.

Dr. Leonid Eidelman – chairman of the IMA – outlined his objection to the law:

This is a case in which medical ethics unequivocally trump the law, and the message we wish to convey to physicians is that forced feeding is tantamount to torture and that no doctor should take part in it.

On Thursday, The Israeli Supreme Court temporarily suspended the detention of two hunger striking Palestinians, Mahmous and Muhammad Balboul, who are being held on administrative detention. The suspension would allow the two men to obtain treatment for the deleterious results of their hunger strike.

Source: www.middleeastmonitor.com