25 Palestinian prisoners contract COVID-19 in Al-Naqab prison
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The Palestinian Prisoners Club announces that 25 Palestinian prisoners have been infected with the Coronavirus in Al-Naqab, with the Israeli Prison Service turning it into a tool against prisoners.
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All prisoners in the block have been quarantined
The Palestinian Prisoners' Club (PPC) said today that 25 prisoners have reported positive for the coronavirus in Block 25 of Al-Naqab Prison.
No further details have been reported so far, other than that all prisoners in the block have been quarantined.
The PPC noted that Al-Naqab Prison is one of the most populated prisons, with more than 1200 prisoners, an aspect that threatens to further increase the danger to the prisoners' lives as the virus spreads. This adds one major problem to the already difficult living conditions faced by Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
According to the Club, the Israeli Prison Service has been using the virus since the beginning of the pandemic as a tool to further punish the prisoners, forcing more measures that have only added to their imposed isolation.
According to the Club, 388 cases have so far been documented since the beginning of the pandemic. The prisoners were only inoculated against the virus following widespread local and international campaigns as the number of positive cases among prisoners skyrocketed last year.
Meanwhile, Palestinian prisoner Nasser Abu Hamid (49 years old), has a malignant tumor threatening his life, which was discovered in August of last year, yet the occupation’s deliberate stalling and neglect led to the deterioration of his health.
In turn, the Head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club (PPC), Kaddoura Fares revealed to Al Mayadeen that “prisoner Abu Hamid is suffering from a collapse in his immune system.”
Fares added that the cancer-stricken prisoner is in dire health.
