Detainees' Commission: Cancer-stricken Palestinian inmate can die any moment due to medical negligence

A cancer-stricken Palestinian prisoner could die "any moment" as Israeli prison officials refuse to free him so he can spend the last days of his life with his family, Palestinian officials say, holding Israel fully responsible for the deterioration of his health condition.

The Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs, which is based in the city of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, warned on Saturday that Nasser Abu Hamid is wrestling with death as the Israeli prison service (IPS) continues to refuse to provide him with necessary medical care.

Spokesman for the Commission Hasan Abd Rabbo said Abu Hamid had not received any dose of chemotherapy for two months because his body became so weak and was no longer able to respond to cancer drugs. 

The 49-year-old is serving seven life sentences and an additional 50 years in prison for activism in favor of Palestinians' freedom from decades-long Israeli occupation and aggression.

He began suffering from a life-threatening condition in his longs a few months ago, but the IPS refused to allow him to receive medical attention in time.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said on Saturday that 73 freedom fighters have died from medical negligence in Israeli jails, who were among 231 Palestinians died while incarcerated in Israel since the occupation started in 1967.

“The crime of medical negligence (slow killing) and torture were the most prominent policies that led to the death of prisoners,” the PPS said in a statement.

Palestinian inmate in Israeli jail in coma for 12 days due to medical negligence

Palestinian activists say Israel “is practicing slow killing” of Palestinian prisoners through “medical negligence”.

It said some 600 Palestinians doing time in the Israeli occupation prisons have been diagnosed over the past years with serious illnesses, including about 200 suffering from chronic diseases. Among them, there are 23 prisoners with tumors and cancer of various degrees, the most serious is Nasser Abu Hamid, who is at risk of death at any moment.

The PPS accused Israel of intentionally stalling in transferring ill prisoners, mainly those diagnosed with cancer, to hospitals in order to speed up their death, adding that many cancer patients were not informed of their situation until cancer had reached an advanced and deadly stage.

Israeli prisons hold thousands of Palestinians, many of whom have been jailed in line with the occupying regime's "administrative detention" policy, which allows it to incarcerate inmates without any charge or trial.

Hundreds march in Ramallah in support of Palestinian prisoner 

Also on Saturday, Wafa news agency reported that hundreds of Palestinians have held a demonstration in the city of Ramallah to protest the regime's continue detention of Abu Hamid.

The protesters waved Palestinian flags and banners calling for Abu Hamid’s immediate release due to his critical health condition, exacerbated by the Israeli policy of medical negligence, the agency reported.

Last month, Palestinian officials explicitly announced that a tumor, which was detected in Abu Hamid’s head was a result of Israel's failure to deal with his health condition at an earlier stage, and that he was supposed to undergo a CT scan of the head and abdomen and a biopsy again due to his worsening health condition.

The Palestinian Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Commission have also urged all human rights and international institutions to urgently intervene and pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to release him.

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