Another Palestinian inmate infected with coronavirus in Israeli prison
Amid growing concerns that the health condition of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention centers are at serious risk in light of the coronavirus pandemic across the occupied territories, another detainee has been infected with the highly contagious virus.
The Israel Prison Service (IPS) announced on Monday that 20-year-old Moayad al-Khatib, a resident of the central occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, has been diagnosed with the coronavirus infection at Ofer Prison.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) said in a statement that Khatib contracted COVID-19 at the “al-Mabar” section of the prison, where newly arrested detainees are being held.
The PPS then referred to the surging cases of coronavirus infection among Palestinian inmates as a disaster, noting that the trend proves the fact that the IPS outrageously practices the policies of medial neglect and systematic procrastination against the detainees.
The Palestinian rights group then pointed to the high number of infected detainees at Gilboa prison in the northern Jordan Valley as conclusive evidence of such behavior.
The PPS also held Israeli prison authorities fully responsible for the lives of Palestinian prisoners, reiterating its call on international human rights institutions, particularly the United Nations and the World Health Organization, to pressure Israeli officials into freeing sick and elderly Palestinian inmates, and stopping daily arrest operations.
It finally called for the formation of an impartial medical committee to monitor the health condition of prisoners, and to ensure that the detainees are provided with adequate preventive measures.
More than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently held in some 17 Israeli jails, with dozens of them serving multiple life sentences.
Over 350 detainees, including women and minors, are under Israel’s administrative detention.
The administrative detention, which is a form of imprisonment without trial or charge, allows authorities to incarcerate Palestinians for up to six months. The duration could be extended for an infinite number of times.
There have been growing calls from regional and international rights groups, including the Europal Forum, to put pressure on the Israeli regime to provide Palestinian prisoners with enough protection against the COVID-19 pandemic.
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