West Bank Settler Begins Hunger Strike After Being Ordered to Stay at Mother-in-Law's Home

Tal Dradik, a settler from the Benjamin region in the West Bank, was arrested by the Central Command's special police unit yesterday and charged with violating a legal order. The order, issued by Central Command Chief Avi Blot, requires Dradik to remain under full house arrest for six months at his mother-in-law's residence. According to the legal aid organization Honenu, the order is impractical because Dradik's mother-in-law is deaf and communicates only through lip reading, and she did not consent to hosting him. Honenu has filed an appeal through attorney Adi Kider demanding the cancellation of the order. During a court hearing, Dradik's detention was extended by two days. In response, Dradik announced through his lawyer that he has started a hunger strike to protest both his detention and the administrative order. Attorney Moshe Polsky, representing Dradik on behalf of Honenu, criticized the order as issued without proper authority or consideration, stating that the Central Command Chief lacks the power to impose house arrest at another person's home and that the feasibility and consent were not examined. Polsky called the order a misuse of legal provisions.