Lawyer: Israel won't free Palestinian on strike

JERUSALEM -- A lawyer for a Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike said Israel's supreme court rejected a petition to release his client.

Attorney Nery Ramati said he was told Wednesday to exhaust the appeals process with a military committee first, before petitioning the top court.

Ramati's client, Ayman Sharawneh, was originally sentenced for 38 years for militant activity, but he was released in 2011 in exchange for a captive soldier.

But the military committee later ordered Sharawneh rearrested, citing secret evidence allegedly showing he violated his release terms.

Sharawneh has refused food for over 70 days in an off-again, on-again hunger strike to protest his continued detention.

The military committee will meet Feb. 28 to decide on Sharawneh's fate. It has the power to decide whether he will serve his full term.