The Palestine Prisoners Center for Studies reported on the cases of Ayman alKhader Alaya, from Jenin, and Dirar Abu Sisi, of Gaza, after the ongoing deterioration of their health.
Abu Sisi has remained in an isolation ward in Eshel prison with only three other prisoners despite repeated promises from occupation authorities to remove him from isolation, in which he has been held since he was kidnapped from Ukraine by Israeli forces in 2010, until his recent transfer to Soroka hospital for two days. He is suffering from heart problems, gallbaldder, kidney and stomach disease, and has vision problems in his left eye.
He was diagnosed with a serious gastrointestinal infection, and that antibiotics did not teat the infection. He is taking 11 pills daily, yet despite no notable improvement in his condition, was returned to the isolation section in Eshel. Alaya is also held in the isolation section of Eshel and suffering from a serious infection in his foot and elsewhere in his body. He is serving a 16 year sentence and has been imprisoned since 2003.
Thaer Halahleh, who suffers from Hepatitis C, contracted during a prison dental operation, also called for solidarity to save the sick prisoners, reported his lawyer Moataz Shukeirat.
Halahleh not receiving proper treatment for hepatitis, reported Shukeirat; he is also experiencing severe stomach pain and lost consciousness for two hours recently. Halahleh is a former long-term hunger striker who secured his release from administrative detention through a lengthy hunger strike in 2012, only to be re-arrested by the occupation in April 2013.
He called for human rights organizations to follow up on the health conditions of the Palestinian political prisoners, noting that they face significant neglect in treatment and delay in the diagnosis of disease. Halahleh particularly highlighted the cases of Moatassem Raddad, Khaled Shawish, Mansour Moqtada, Murad abu Maliq and Yousry al-Masri, facing severe health crises.
Shukeirat also raised the case of Munif Mohammed Abu Atwan, who has lost 70% of his vision. He is held in Ramon prison and serving five life sentences. Abu Atwan has requested to have an outside physician enter the prison, but his request has been denied, and he is not receiving treatment despite needing surgical intervention for his vision loss.
The Center said these cases demonstrate a policy of deliberate disregard for the lives of sick prisoners by the occupation authorities, subjecting them a slow death in prison. The number of seriously ill Palestinian political prisoners continues to increase due to this policy, reported the Center.
