The Commission of Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs warned Saturday, September 22 of the sudden death of the Palestinian cancer-stricken detainee, Nasser Abu Hamid due to deliberate medical negligence in Israeli occupation jails. 

“Israeli occupation practiced deliberate medical negligence against the Palestinian detainee Abu Hamid as he has not received any dose of treatment for two months,” Commission Spokesman, Hassan Abd Rabbo said.

He elaborated that Nasser’s body does not have the strength anymore or responds to the cancer treatment shots. 

In this context, the Israeli hospital of ‘Asaf Harofeh’ abdicated its medical responsibility for the cancer-stricken prisoner, Nasser Abu Hamid, recommending his immediate release due to his sharply deteriorated health condition.  

The health condition of the prisoner Abu Hamid, 49, began to deteriorate since August 2021, as he suffered from pain in his chest and was detected with a cancerous tumor in his lungs.

Nasser, who hails from the Amari refugee camp in Ramallah, has been detained since 2002 and sentenced to seven life sentences and 50 years.

The latest deterioration in Nasser’s health came as a shock to his 73-year-old mother, Latifa.

“I want my son by any means, even for a moment,” she said. 

She also participated in a vigil in Ramallah demanding the immediate release of Nasser as he is in dire condition and may die at any moment.

Latifa has four other sons in Israeli occupation jails: Nasr, 47, Sharif, 45, Mohammad, 38, and Islam, 35. They all sentenced to life sentences. 

The mother of Abu Hamid’s brothers was deprived of visiting her sons for years. The brothers lost their father during their years of detention. The family home was demolished five times by the Israeli occupation, the last of which was in 2019.

Israeli Occupation uses deliberate medical negligence as a common punitive measure against Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails.

73 Palestinian prisoners lost their lives inside Israeli occupation prisons since 1967 due to a systematic policy of deliberate medical negligence, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club.