The Palestinian Prisoners' Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club have confirmed that Sheikh Mustafa Abu Arra, a 63-year-old administrative detainee, was martyred following his transfer from the Israeli "Ramon" prison to "Soroka" hospital due to a severe deterioration in his health.

The two Palestinian institutions focused on prisoners' affairs explained in a statement that Sheikh Mustafa Abu Arra, from the town of Aqqaba in the Tubas District of the West Bank, was a leader in the Hamas movement and a former detainee in Israeli prisons. He had been arrested multiple times since 1990, with a cumulative detention period of about 12 years.

It is noteworthy that the martyr was among those deported from Marj al-Zuhour in southern Lebanon in 1992. The occupation forces re-arrested him on October 30, 2023, despite his serious health problems that required intensive medical attention prior to his arrest.

The Prisoners’ Commission emphasized that Sheikh Abu Arra, like all prisoners, faced unprecedented crimes and procedures since the beginning of the occupation’s genocidal war. These included torture and starvation, as well as medical neglect, which were central factors leading to the martyrdom of prisoners and detainees in the occupation’s prisons and camps.

Read next: The Policy of Neglect; Behind the Walls of the Occupation Prisons

The Authority and the Club asserted that Sheikh Abu Arra was subjected to a slow killing process from the moment of his arrest, being deprived of necessary medical treatment. They noted that this treatment is part of the broader war of extermination and systematic killing carried out by the occupation under political directives. This includes public incitement from the Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has infamously suggested killing Palestinian prisoners by shooting them in the head to solve the problem of prison overcrowding.

The occupation prison administration was held fully responsible for the martyrdom of prisoner Abu Arra and for the fate of all prisoners and detainees in its prisons. They added that the number of prisoners currently exceeds 9,700, not including all detainees from the Gaza Strip.

It is noteworthy that with the martyrdom of prisoner Abu Arra, the number of prisoners and detainees who have died inside the occupation prisons, and whose identities have been announced, has risen to 19 martyrs, while the occupation continues to conceal the identities of dozens of detainees from the Gaza Strip who have died in its prisons and camps, according to a statement by the two Palestinian institutions.

Hamas: To avenge the blood of the martyr and the martyrs of our people

The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, announced the death of the captive leader, holding the occupation responsible for his assassination through deliberate medical negligence.

In a statement mourning the martyr, Hamas described his death as "a new cowardly assassination, added to the occupation's criminal record against prisoners."

The movement promised Palestinian prisoners "imminent freedom and deliverance from the prisons of injustice, medical neglect, and inhumane treatment they endure around the clock." They emphasized that Israeli mistreatment has intensified and escalated under the policies of the current occupation government.

Read next: Israeli abuse of Marwan Barghouti 'amounts to torture': Lawyer

Hamas called on all Resistance fighters and those inspired by the martyred Sheikh to target occupation soldiers and settlers with bullets and explosive devices, seeking vengeance for the blood of the martyr and all the Palestinian martyrs.

It is noteworthy that demonstrations immediately headed to the home of the martyred Hamas leader in the town of Aqaba in Tubas following the announcement of his death in the occupation prisons.

#بالفيديو | مسيرة في بلدة عقابا في #طوباس بعد الإعلان عن استشهاد القيادي في حركة حماس الشيخ مصطفى أبو عرة داخل سجون الاحتلال.#الميادين pic.twitter.com/bX6NMPjCo5

— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) July 25, 2024