Israel on High Alert as Hunger Striker's Condition Worsens

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israeli security forces in Jerusalem are on high alert Friday, as a Palestinian Arab prisoner on a hunger strike for nearly two months lost consciousness in the hospital.
 
Doctors at Ashkelon's Barzilai Medical Center where Islamic Jihad member Mohammed Allan is hospitalized have put him on a respirator and reported his condition as critical.
 
Allan is protesting "administrative detention," which means he has not been indicted or tried. Two Jewish extremists are also being held in administrative detention on suspicion of "price-tag" attacks, such as the arson attack in the Arab village of Duma that killed a toddler and his father, and the arson attack in June on the Church of the Multiplication in the Galilee.
 
Israel Police, Border Police and prison personnel are all on high alert to quell potential riots on the Temple Mount and prison facilities are on lockdown.
 
There has been heated debate in the Knesset over the ethical and legal issues surrounding forced feeding of hunger-striking prisoners. At the end of June, the Knesset passed a law permitting force-feeding, but most doctors believe force-feeding goes against medical ethics.
 
Arab Knesset members are strongly opposed. The Jerusalem Post reported Friday that all 13 Arab MKs are en route to the medical facility where Allan is hospitalized.
 
Israel recently released another Islamic Jihad member, Khader Adnan, after a 55-day hunger strike, when doctors said his condition was life-threatening.

Meanwhile, police reported a firebomb hurled at a Jewish home in Beit Hanina, a predominately Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem.