Palestinian girls hold posters depicting footballer Mahmoud al-Sarsak, who is protesting his detention by Israel, during a rally in his support in the West Bank town of Al Bireh, near Ramallah yesterday

A Palestinian footballer, jailed in Israel without trial under a special law, has taken his first steps towards ending an 83-day hunger strike, Palestinian officials and doctors for Human Rights - Israel (PHRI) said yesterday. Mahmoud al-Sarsak, 25, who began fasting on March 19, had resumed drinking milk, said Issa Qarari, Palestinian minister for prisoners’ affairs. Anat Litvin of PHRI said Sarsak, who is from the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, began drinking milk after meeting Israeli officials late Sunday. The Palestinian Prisoners Club, an organisation looking after the welfare of Palestinians in Israeli jails, said it was possible that Sarsak would be released early July.