Islamic Jihad terrorist Khader Adnan
Islamic Jihad terrorist Khader AdnanReuters

Israeli police on Monday re-arrested Palestinian Arab terrorist and Islamic Jihad leader Khader Adnan on Monday, less than one day after he was freed following a 56-day hunger strike that allegedly brought him near death.

"Khader Adnan was arrested because he had no right to be in the Old City of Jerusalem where free access is allowed to West Bank Palestinians only aged 50 and above, and he is just 37," police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP

Samri insisted however it was not an arrest as such but an "inquiry to investigate the offense committed by Khader Adnan." 

Micky Rosenfeld, another police spokesman, said Adnan is "an Islamic Jihad activist and is also prohibited for this reason from entering Israeli territory." 

Restrictions to the Old City and the Temple Mount were reinstated last week following a surge in terror attacks throughout Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. Previously, the government had granted a series of special concessions and reduced travel restrictions for Palestinian Arabs during the Ramadan holiday. 

Khader Adnan has been portrayed as an innocent man imprisoned by Israel without cause by radical leftist groups, but he is in fact a well-known leader of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group in the Judea and Samaria region. He is accused of planning attacks as well as openly inciting violence, in calls for suicide bombing attacks that have been caught on film.

Adnan, 37, had been held for a year under administrative detention, which allows imprisonment without charge for renewable periods of six months indefinitely.