Jerusalem - Israel’s parliament approved on Thursday a bill to allow force-feeding of Palestinian hunger striking prisoners, triggering intense opposition by the country’s medical association.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition passed the bill after hours of debate, with 46 votes in favour and 40 against in the 120-seat Knesset (parliament).
But the Israel Medical Association, which considers force-feeding as a form of torture, urged doctors not to take part in forced feeding of prisoners.
The association said in a statement that later on Thursday it will file a petition to the Supreme Court, asking it to cancel the law.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Tuesday urged Israeli lawmakers to halt the process of authorising force-feeding.
The government has long been fearing that Palestinian hunger strikers could die in prison, sparking a wave of protest in the occupied West Bank.
The bill was approved less than a month after Israel was forced to release Khader Adnan, a famous former Palestinian prisoner whose 56-day-long hunger strike brought him to the brink of death.
Xinhua