Covid outbreak in Israeli prisons
The Prisoners’ Press Office said in a statement that the conditions in which Palestinian prisoners are being housed in Section 8 of the infamous Ramon prison are extremely worrying due to the deliberate medical negligence from the Israeli prison officials towards Palestinian prisoners.
The office went on to claim that the Israeli Prison Service deliberately prevents the entry of medical supplies necessary for infected prisoners. Human rights organisations continue to appeal to international institutions to immediately intervene and to ensure those infected have access to the appropriate medical treatments and tests.
The continuous negligence by the Israeli authorities has resulted in a huge spike in Covid-19 cases among Palestinian prisoners across the occupied Palestinian territories. This comes amid Palestinian officials confirming that at least 140 inmates were infected with Covid-19 inside Israeli jails.
Palestinian official, Hasan Abed Rabbo, calls on international human rights organisations to intervene in order to save the lives of Palestinian prisoners and to help stop the spread of Covid inside Israeli prisons which predominately house Palestinians.
Most of the Palestinians held in Israeli prisons are being held under the infamous “administrative detention” system, a system that imprisons Palestinians without trial or charge. Some are imprisoned under this system for up to 11 years, many of them minors.
In the last 11 months, it is reported that the Israeli regime has detained at least 400 children while continuing to hold 170 Palestinian children in prisons. This comes on the back of the outbreak in Gilboa prison in which 123 Palestinian inmates were diagnosed with Covid-19.
