RAMALLAH: Israel’s Supreme Court rejected Tuesday an appeal to free a Palestinian jailed without charge and on hunger strike for more than two months, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said.

“The occupation authorities confirmed their decision to keep Sami Janazra, who has been on hunger strike for 69 days to protest against his detention,” said Jawad Boulos of the prisoners club.

Under what it calls administrative detention, Israel can hold suspects for renewable periods without charging them.

Janazra, 43, was arrested in November 2015 and placed in administrative detention for six months, Boulos said, which was recently renewed for a further four months.

The lawyer said Janazra had been refusing food since March 3, only drinking water.

Janazra was transferred to Soroka hospital in southern Israel where he was “under observation,” Israeli prison authorities told AFP.

They disputed the length of the hunger strike, saying it had been just 28 days.

Originally from the Al-Fawwar refugee camp near Hebron in the south of the occupied West Bank, Janazra is a member of the Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

He has been jailed by Israel several times.

Seven Palestinians held in Israeli jails are currently on hunger strike, ranging from 13 to 35 days, according to the Palestinian Authority.

Hunger strikes have shone a light upon the issue of administrative detention, with three Palestinian detainees staging long fasts which took them to close to death.

Administrative detention has been condemned by the United Nations and human rights organisations, but Israel argues it is an essential tool for preventing attacks while keeping sensitive information secret.

More than 7,000 Palestinians are currently in Israeli jails, of whom about 10 percent are under administrative detention, according to Palestinian rights groups.