A Palestinian detainee held in an Israeli prison is refusing insulin therapy for his diabetes in response to Israel’s extension of his administrative detention order, one day before he was due to be released, the Palestinian news agency Al-Qastal reported.

Amin Shuwaiki, 61, was detained last May by Israeli forces as part of a campaign targeting dozens of political activists in Jerusalem, during Palestinian protests against the seizure of homes in the Sheikh Jarrah area, according to Al-Qastal.

Shuwaiki was placed in “administrative detention” for a period of four months. However, Israeli authorities extended the detention order just one day before it was due to expire. Shuwaiki, a father of seven, needs insulin injections three times a day in order to treat his diabetes.

His wife Hanaa told Al-Qastal that news of the extension of the administrative detention order was “very difficult” for Shuwaiki. “He was not expecting this, so he decided to take action,” she said.

Hanaa added that Shuwaiki was arrested in a “very savage way” in May, with Israeli forces beating him and breaking his arm and some of his ribs.

He had been arrested nine times previously by Israeli forces, with the last arrest being in 2007.

Hanaa added that Shuwaiki was a well-known trader in Jerusalem but had recently spent most of his time at home, delegating trading responsibilities to his children because of his advanced age.

Israel currently holds hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in administrative detention without charge or trial. Other Palestinian prisoners have gone on extended hunger strikes to protest their prolonged administrative detention.