Days Of Palestine – Ramallah

Israeli occupation authorities on Friday handed over the body of a cancer-stricken Palestinian prisoner who died recently while in Israeli custody to Jordan.

Chairman of the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission Qadri Abu Baker announced that the Israel has handed over the body of Sami Aby Dayak, who died on November 26 in Israeli custody due to deliberate medical negligence, to Jordan.

“The Israeli occupation authorities has handed over Abu Dayak’s body to Jordan through the King Hussein border crossing following his family’s request,” Abu Baker confirmed.  

He noted that Abu Dayak’s body was transferred to the King Hussein Medical Center in the Jordanian capital, Amman; a move that was agreed upon between Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Abu Dayak’s parents.

He expressed his high appreciation for the intervention of Jordan’s King Abdullah II and the Jordanian government to secure the release of Abu Dayak’s body.

The 36-year-old prisoner suffered from terminal cancer and had been refused compassionate leave to be with his family. Israel refused to fulfill Abu Dayak’s last wish to spend his last days with his mother.

According to the Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer, Abu Diak had first complained of abdominal pain in 2015, which was treated with painkillers. Two weeks later, he lost consciousness and was transferred to the Israeli Soroka hospital.

He then underwent surgery to remove parts of his intestines, and was diagnosed with cancer. After that, Abu Diak underwent other surgical procedures that reportedly left him unconscious while on anesthetics for more than a month.

Abu Diak's family had asked for his release to allow him to die at his family's side, but Israeli occupation officials denied the request. The Palestinians also reached out to European countries and the Red Cross to apply pressure on Israel to release him.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club said he was the fifth Palestinian to die in Israeli custody in 2019, and the 222nd since 1967.