The chairman of the Otzma Yehudit party, MK Itamar Ben Gvir, arrived on Thursday evening at Assaf Harofeh Hospital and visited the entrance to the intensive care unit, where Islamic Jihad terrorist Khalil Awawdeh, whom Israel has agreed to release following a hunger strike, is hospitalized.
Ben Gvir said, "I came here to protest the fact that the State of Israel has become a paradise for terrorists. They go on hunger strike and the State of Israel caves in. And that is how another terrorist and another terrorist are released from prison."
MK Ben Gvir protested Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Yair Lapid's submission, as he put it, to the demands of the hunger striking terrorist. "It's a disgrace, it's unacceptable. Israel must not become the capital of terrorists, the State of Israel must not become a paradise for terrorists."
Upon entering the intensive care unit, MK Ben Gvir said, "A terrorist should not be pampered, a terrorist should receive a prison sentence for many years and, in cases of murder, a 'death penalty for terrorists law' should be enacted here.”
On Wednesday, an agreement was reached with Awawdeh whereby his administrative detention will end at the beginning of October and he will be released to his home.
Israeli officials said that Awawdeh will be returned to administrative detention until October after his medical condition improves. They added that he has pledged in writing that he would not return to terrorist activity.
The Central Command recently froze Awawdeh's administrative detention as long as he is in the hospital. Later, the judges of the Supreme Court ruled that the court has no room to intervene in the decision to keep Awawdeh under arrest despite his medical condition.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court once again rejected the petition to release Awawdeh on the grounds that there has been no substantial change in the circumstances and that there is no justification for the court to intervene.