JERUSALEM - Israeli doctors have refused to force feed Palestinian prisoner Mohamed Alaan, who has been on hunger strike for 56 days, on the grounds that it is a form of torture, despite recent legislation in Israel that allows it.
Alaan had already been transferred from Soroka hospital in Beersheva to Barzilai in Ashkelon on Monday after doctors refused to force feed the prisoner for ethical and legal reasons, and the same decision has been taken by the doctors at Barzilai on Tuesday.
While the Israeli Knesset adopted a law permitting the force feeding of hunger striking prisoners in July, many medical associations have condemned the measure and have urged health workers to refuse to comply.
Thus, the director of the Barzilai medical center, Dr. Hezi Levy, endorsed the decision of his colleagues at Soroka and refused to feed the prisoner against his will, as his life is not in immediate danger, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.
"Force-feeding is a drastic measure that is incompatible with medical ethics," Dr. Levy said in a statement released on Tuesday, according to The Times of Israel.
"Any treatment carried out without the consent of the patient is reserved for a decline in (his) medical condition and an urgent life-saving need," the hospital director added.
Basel Ghattas, an Arab member of the Knesset, warned the Barzilai administration in a letter that it would turn into an "Israeli Guantanamo, where it is allowed to torture" if it employed force-feeding, Channel 2 reported.
Dr. Leonid Eidelman, the chairman of the Israel Medical Association, said that he would petition the High Court of Justice to ban force-feeding.
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