Rockets were fired this morning from the Gaza Strip in the direction of Israel, AFP journalists found, shortly after news broke of the death of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad official who had been on hunger strike for nearly 90 days in protest against his detention in an Israeli prison.

The Israeli military said air defense sirens sounded at a kibbutz near the Gaza Strip.

Hunter Adnan, 45, who has been on hunger strike since early February to protest his imprisonment in Israel, surrendered earlier today.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad figure dies in Israeli prison after nearly 90 days on hunger strike

Hader Adnan, an official of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, after an 87-day hunger strike to protest his imprisonment in Israel, died today, sources said.

Shortly after news of his death broke, rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian Islamic Jihad has a strong presence, at Israel, AFP journalists found. The Israeli military said air defense sirens sounded at a kibbutz near the Gaza Strip, before saying a total of three rockets were fired, all of which fell on empty plots of land.

Israel’s prisons directorate announced in a press release the death of a prisoner belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad after he was “found unconscious in his cell” and taken to a hospital.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Association confirmed to AFP the death of Hader Adnan at the age of 45.

An association of Palestinian prisoners in the Gaza Strip complained to the Reuters news agency that he was “executed in cold blood” by Israeli authorities.

Israel “will pay the price of this crime,” declared the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an organization classified as “terrorist” by Israel, the US and the EU.

“The free hero Hader Adnan was martyred for a crime committed by the enemy in front of the whole world who approves, protects and covers up injustice and terrorism,” the Palestinian Islamist group added.

“The resistance will continue with strength and determination,” he added.

According to the Israeli authorities, Hader Adnan refused to “submit medical examinations and receive medical treatment”.

According to Kantoura Fares, president of the Palestinian prisoners’ union, this is the first prisoner to die due to a hunger strike. He had started this protest on February 5.

Hunter Adnan, from the northern part of the occupied West Bank, had been repeatedly imprisoned by the Israeli authorities, at least 12 times, for some eight years, most of that time under the measure of “administrative detention”, and had repeatedly gone on hunger strikes. His case became a symbol for Palestinians.

On Friday, his wife Rada Musa confirmed that she was rejecting “any help” and “any medical assistance” from Israel.

“He is in a cell where the detention conditions are very difficult. They (Israel) refused to transfer him to a civilian hospital and to allow a visit by his lawyer,” she added in her statements to Agence France-Presse.