Israeli occupation authorities continue to practice the medical neglect of Palestinian prisoners, leading to health complications and even preventable deaths.
Sanaa Salama, wife of detainee Walid Daqqa, who is 60-years-old and has been detained for 38 years, reports that he is suffering a deterioration of his health.
Daqqa is currently held in Barzilai Hospital, and is suffering a serious health condition.
Sanaa is not allowed to visit her husband, but has been informed by medical staff that Daqqa “began to suffer from acute pneumonia, acute renal failure, and low blood count”, she has said.
Those symptoms are in “addition to a number of serious health symptoms he has faced recently. He is being held in a private room due to the seriousness of his condition”, she added.
Daqqa is from the predominantly Arab town of Baqa al-Gharbiyye on the Israeli side of the Green Line. He has been detained since 25 March 1986, and is serving a 39-year sentence. He is the author of several books.
On 23 February 23 the Knesset approved a draft law that is passed will further deprive Palestinian prisoners of adequate health care. If passed, the law will legalize the medical neglect that detainees have suffered for decades.
The number of Palestinian detainees with health conditions in Israeli occupation prisons is approximately 600, including 24 prisoners with cancers of various types.
Prisons authorities routinely deny prisoners access to adequate health care, with numerous examples of seriously ill inmates being given over-the-counter medication by way of treatment.
International conventions, as enshrined in the Geneva Conventions and elsewhere, oblige detaining states to provide adequate healthcare to all detainees.
According to Palestinian prisoner-focused groups, there are approximately 4,800 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, 170 children and 29 female prisoners.
