Prisoner Abu Hmeid transferred to hospital as his health deteriorates

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The Palestinian Prisoners Club reported on Sunday that cancer-stricken prisoner Nasser Abu Hmeid was transferred urgently from Ramle prison to a civil hospital after developing fever and bradycardia.

The Prisoners Club warned in mid-October that the prisoner has lost the ability to eat, his body weight noticeably dropped, and is no longer responding to chemotherapy or painkillers.

Wa’ed Prisoners Association had warned that Abu Hmeid's health condition has reached a dangerous stage, noting that cancer has spread to the prisoner’s body about a year and a half ago.

According to Abu Hmeid's brother, the tumor located on the left side of the prisoner's body, specifically in the chest area, is prominent and clear.

Abu Hmeid, from Al-Amari refugee camp, is one of 24 prisoners suffering from cancer and tumors to varying degrees. His case is considered one of the most difficult cases held in Israeli occupation prisons.

In September, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said a tumor detected in Abu Hmeid’s head was due to Israeli negligence and failure to deal with the prisoner's health condition at an earlier stage.

The cancer-stricken prisoner has been in Israeli occupation prisons since 2002 and is serving seven life sentences and an additional 50 years. He is one of five siblings serving life sentences in Israeli occupation prisons.

In early October, an Israeli occupation court refused the request for the early release of the prisoner, despite his critical health condition, just like other previous release requests the Israeli occupation turned down.

According to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, 600 Palestinian prisoners suffer from illness in Israeli occupation prisons.

The Commission pointed to the tragic conditions, brutal treatment, cruel torture, and criminality practiced by the Israel occupation against Palestinian prisoners.

It added that a number of these prisoners suffer from serious diseases, such as cancer, and suffer from critical health conditions in light of deliberate medical negligence practiced by the Israeli occupation authorities.

The policy of neglect

In violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and others, the Israeli occupation pursues a policy of medical neglect against Palestinian prisoners who are continuously subjected to torment and maltreatment.

Behind the walls of the Israeli prisons, Palestinians are always exposed to aggression and brutality under Israeli occupation. As a result of neglect and abuse, some freed prisoners with forsaken medical cases are reported dead shortly after their release, while others are reported dead inside the prison.

The methods to weaken both the will and the body are a tragic duality practiced amid an Israeli political and judicial system that legitimizes torture and psychological pressure against Palestinian prisoners.

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