Middle East Monitor / January 16, 2021
following increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases, Qadri Abu Bakr, head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)’s Commission for Prisoners Affairs, accused Israel of “intentional medical negligence” against Palestinian prisoners, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.
“The situation inside Israeli jails is worrying,” he expressed, noting that the number of COVID-19 cases among prisoners has reached 277 and is expected to rise.
Abu Bakr said that Palestinian prisoner Basel Ajaj, 45, is suffering a critical health condition after he caught COVID-19 and entered the ICU.
He holds the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for the condition of Ajaj and other prisoners who are suffering from COVID-19.
Ajaj has been in prison since 2002 and is serving a life sentence.
Abu Bakr reiterated that the Israeli Prison Services did not take any precautionary measures against the outbreak of COVID-19 among the Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails. “This accelerated the spread of the virus among them,” he stressed.
On Thursday, the Palestinian Authority called on the international community to form an investigation mission to investigate the health conditions of the Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails.
Official Palestinian reports state that there are about 4,400 Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails, including 40 women and girls, 170 children, and around 380 under administrative detention.
