Majority of released Palestinian political prisoners emerge with health issues

Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS)

Ramallah, Palestine – The majority of Palestinian political prisoners being released in this exchange deal have emerged with health problems, the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has said. Many have been transferred to hospital, including seven freed detainees who were released to the occupied West Bank today, highlighting the level of atrocities that the prisoners were subject to. 

Among the most prominent crimes committed against them are: torture, deprivation of medical treatment, enforced starvation, systematic abuse and humiliation as well as severe beatings, which take place with the aim to kill prisoners or to cause them lifelong injuries and health issues. Here, we mention the case of the martyr Farouk al-Khatib, who passed away after his release, and the martyr Ismail al-Taqatqa who died as a result of medical negligence like many others. Dozens of Palestinian political prisoners have been killed by the occupation’s prison authorities since the war on Gaza, including through beating and torturing them to death. 

The PPS reminds that there are over 10,000 political prisoners held in the occupation’s custody. This number does not include all the detainees from Gaza, as hundreds of them are facing the crime of enforced disappearance. The longer Palestinian detainees remain in Israeli custody, the greater the risk is to their lives and fates. 

The occupation has also been systematically terrorizing the freed prisoners by threatening families including with the murder of their children, raiding their homes before and after the prisoner is released, and intentionally destroying the contents of the home in an attempt to prevent Palestinians from rejoicing over the release of their loved ones. 

Among the prisoners released today are ill people who have suffered for years from systematic medical negligence, including freed prisoners Mohamed Ebraish, Ali al-Hroub (who is suffering from cancer), Alaa al-Hams and Anas Masalma, as well as others who have emerged from the occupation’s prisons with chronic diseases.