Head of PLO prisoners’ commission accuses Israel of neglecting Palestinian prisoners’ medical needs

Headline: “During a visit to released [prisoners] and prisoners’ families in Qalqilya – Karake: ‘There is an increase in the cases of cancer among the prisoners; Abd Al-Qader’s condition is very serious’”
      “Director of [PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Karake revealed that prisoner Rajai Hussein Mansour Abd Al-Qader (40) (PMW was unable to ascertain the details of his crimes –Ed.) – a resident of Deir Ammar in the Ramallah sub-district who was sentenced to 45 months and is in the prison in the Negev – is sick with lung cancer, and that the doctors in the prison decided to give him 13 chemotherapy treatments… Karake indicated that the rate of incidence of malignant cancerous diseases is rising in the prisons, which raises concern regarding the prisoners’ lives and health. This indicates that the prisons do not have the necessary things in terms of health, as routine checks are not conducted for the prisoners, which causes diseases to spread in their bodies and worsen to a dangerous situation. He also said that there are over 30 cases of cancer or malignant growths among the prisoners, in addition to the incidence of serious chronic diseases such as paralysis, disability , critical injuries, liver, kidney, and heart diseases, diseases of the spinal cord, lungs, and the like.
Karake noted that the case of prisoner Hassan Al-Tamimi (i.e., arrested for throwing rocks) is an example of deliberate medical neglect, as he was not given treatment during his time in Ofer Military Prison, which led him to a dangerous condition due to which he was transferred to S haare Zedek Hospital (sic., Al-Tamimi was given treatment in prison for his rare genetic disease; see note below –Ed.). [Al-Tamimi] is still in emergency treatment while on artificial respiration and anesthetized, after suffering from liver disease and a sharp drop in weight.
Karake said that Martyr (Shahid) Aziz Awisat (i.e., terrorist, attempted to blow up buildings and attacked 1 with an axe), who had a heart disease, did not receive treatment but rather was attacked in a beastly way even though the doctors and the prison management knew that he was sick, which caused his death as a Martyr (sic., he died during treatment for a heart condition). This is a complicated crime indicating the level of negligence for the lives of the prisoners in the occupation’s prisons and their health.”

Hassan Al-Tamimi – 18-year-old Palestinian who was arrested in April 2018 for throwing rocks at Israelis. Al-Tamimi suffers from the rare genetic disease methylmalonic acidemia, and his condition deteriorated while under arrest at Ofer Prison, despite him being given treatment and access to his medicines and food appropriate for his medical condition. Al-Tamimi was released on May 29, 2018, a day after he was transferred to Shaare Tzedek Hospital for treatment.

Aziz Musa Salem Awisat – Palestinian terrorist and Hamas affiliate who attempted to blow up a building in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of Jerusalem on Feb. 23, 2014, and two weeks later attempted to blow up other buildings in Jerusalem. Awisat was arrested in March 2014 and admitted to these crimes, as well as to wounding an Israeli with an axe at the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem's Old City on April 2, 2012. Awisat was sentenced to 30 years. While imprisoned, Awisat injured a prison guard by throwing boiling water over him, for which he was indicted in May 2018. Awisat died on May 20, 2018, in Assaf HaRofeh Hospital, while being treated for a heart condition.