One Palestinian prisoner held on administrative detention was in critical condition before Israel agreed to release him on December 5. Kayed Fasfous had been on hunger strike for 131 days late November when his lawyer was informed by Israel in that he would be released within two weeks. Fasfous was arrested in October 2020 and placed on administrative detention without charge or trial. During his 131 days of hunger strike, he lost nearly 100 pounds / 45 kg. In the months leading up to Fasfous’ release, four other Palestinians were released by Israel while using hunger strike as a means of protest against their unlawful detention. By the end of December, one other Palestinian prisoner entered his 137th day of hunger strike in protest over his detention—his condition was described as critical. On December 20, representatives of Palestinian prisoners presented a new plan to end the Israeli practice of using administrative detention. They announced that Palestinians held on administrative detention, and their lawyers, would boycott sessions in Israeli military courts starting on January 1, 2022. The director of Addameer, Sahar Francis, told Haaretz that the decision was made to pressure Israel into complying with international law on the limitations of the illegal and arbitrary practice of holding Palestinian prisoners indefinitely without trial or charges. By the end of December, there were nearly 500 Palestinians held as administrative detainees.

This featured entry for the newly released month of December 2021 focuses on Israeli use of administrative detention to arbitrarily detain Palestinians without charges or trial. The Palestine Chronology has more than 150 entries covering administrative detention going back to 1985.