Middle East Monitor / June 3, 2023
Director of the Palestine Centre for Prisoners Studies Riyadh al-Ashqar disclosed on Friday that 700 sick Palestinian prisoners are in Israeli jails, including 160 in critical condition and 20 suffering from cancer.
“Musa Sofan, who has been in prison for 20 years and is suffering from cancer, is among the sick prisoners inside the Israeli jails,” Al-Ashqar shared.
He accused the Israeli authorities of not offering Sofan the opportunity for proper treatment.
Al-Ashqar added that the Israel Prison Services continues preventing Sofan’s release for treatment and denies him the right to: “At least die among his relatives instead of dying in prison.”
Regarding the Israeli court, which rejected the release of very sick prisoner Walid Dagga, he said: “The court did not look into the possibility to release him or not, but whether it had jurisdiction to deal with his case or not.”
Al-Ashqar explained that Dagga was returned to Al-Ramlah Prison under unfounded claims of suffering from a strange illness, noting that “he is facing a slow death.”
He described Dagga’s detention conditions as “very difficult,” pointing out that the Israeli government, mainly National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir: “Directly incited the court against him and asked it not to look into his case.”
