Freedom Tunnel prisoner seriously ill while in solitary confinement

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One of the heroes of Operation Freedom Tunnel, Yaqoub Qadri, has schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, while he is in solitary confinement, Ayoub, Yaqoub's brother, said on Friday, adding that his family was only informed of his ailment three days ago.

Qadri told Palestine Today News Agency, that "prisoner Yaqoub from the Jenin Governorate, north of the occupied West Bank, was confirmed to be infected with acute parasitic schistosomiasis after a medical examination by the occupation, and he complains of pain in his body."

"He also suffers from a rash on the skin and the emergence of masses (tumors) in his chest," his brother said, noting that "he has thyroid cancer that was discovered months ago."

"The family is concerned and did not know about the health condition of its captive son in light of the occupation authorities barring visitation, with the last time anyone was able to visit him being a month and a half ago," he added, noting that his relatives were in contact with the International Committee of the Red Cross to check on Yaqoub's health.

The prisoner's brother called on the competent authorities to intervene immediately to "pressure the occupation authorities to save the prisoner before his health deteriorates."

Prisoner Yaqoub Qadri, from the village of Bir Al-Basha, in the Jenin governorate in the northern West Bank, was born in 1972. He was arrested by the Israeli occupation forces on October 18, 2003, and the Israeli court sentenced him to life imprisonment twice, plus 35 years. His charges were "belonging to and being a member of Saraya Al-Quds (Al-Quds Brigades) - the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, and participating in operations against the occupation forces."

On September 6, 2021, Qadri was one of six prisoners who broke out of Gilboa Prison in a heroic operation that shook the Israeli occupation's trust in its security system to the core.

Muhjat Al-Quds prisoners' affairs association said in mid-June that the prisoner confirmed in a letter that he has been on an open-ended hunger strike since the beginning of June, in refusal of the prison administration's decision to close his cantina account, claiming that he owed 7,500 shekels, which he has no clue where it came from.

The media department of Muhjat Al-Quds Foundation for Martyrs, Prisoners, and Wounded confirmed in a statement that Qadri suspended his hunger strike after the occupation fulfilled most of his demands later in the month, canceling the penalties imposed by the "Ohli Kidar" prison administration on him, all while preventing his family from visiting for two months.

In his letter, Qadri indicated that his situation is very difficult as he faces daily inspections by the prison administration, adding that the prison administration has moved him to a new dumpster-like cell infested with cockroaches, mosquitoes, ants, and bedbugs that feed on his body day and night, all for the sake of breaking his will and forcing him to end his hunger strike without retrieving any of his stolen rights.