Two Jordanian prisoners infected with COVID-19 in Israeli jails

At least two Jordanian prisoners have been infected with the coronavirus as continued negligence by Israeli authorities resulted in surge of the COVID-19 infections among Palestinians in detention centers across the occupied Palestinian territories.

The National Committee for Jordanian Prisoners and Missing Persons in Israeli prisons identified the two infected prisoners Abdullah al-Barghouti and Thaer al-Lawzi, the Palestinian Information Center reported on Sunday.

The committee called on the Jordanian Foreign Ministry to put pressure on Israel to provide an appropriate environment for treating the infections.

Relevant sources say that Israel is holding 21 Jordanian prisoners, several of whom are serving life and long-term sentences. 

In another case, the Israeli prison service transferred, Abdel-Moez Al-Jahba, a Palestinian inmate from al-Khalil (Hebron) to Soroka Hospital after his health deteriorated due to high fever and breathing difficulty.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club confirmed in a statement on Saturday that Jahba suffers from blood pressure and diabetes and had a stroke five years ago.

The club in a recent statement has warned that the number of the coronavirus infections among the prisoners is rapidly increasing.

“The procrastination in conducting coronavirus examinations and announcing their results contribute to increasing the contact between prisoners, and the increase in infections within the Section”, it noted.

Moreover, the Prisoners Information Office reported on Thursday that the number of the coronavirus infections among prisoners at the Ktzi'ot Prison has reached 59.

The figure brings the total number of prisoners infected with the coronavirus since the outbreak of the pandemic to 246, including sick and elderly detainees.

It warned that Section 8 of Ramon prison, which is designed to quarantine prisoners infected by the coronavirus, is no longer able to accommodate new patients.

Earlier this month, Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila warned about an imminent outbreak of the virus in Israel's densely crowded detention centers.

Health mini. raises alarm over coronavirus outbreak among Palestinian inmates in Israeli prisons

The Palestinian health minister warns against an imminent outbreak of coronavirus infection among Palestinian inmates in Israeli detention centers.

Kaila said on January 3 that Israeli prisons are potential epicenters of the pandemic, which means the lives of many Palestinian prisoners, particularly the elderly and the sick, are at high risk. 

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has denounced the deliberate medical negligence of Israeli prison officials.

“The dramatic surge of COVID-19 infections among Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons reiterates the intentional medical negligence practiced by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) and its failure to provide basic means of protection from the virus,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement on Friday.

Social media campaign launched to save Palestinian kid in Israeli prison

Separately, Palestinian media reported that a social media campaign was launched to save 16-year-old Abdul-Rahman al-Bashiti, who had been languishing in an Israeli jail for about two weeks.

The organizers of the campaign said that Bashiti had been exposed to harsh interrogation sessions by Israeli officers in the jail despite his deteriorating health conditions

The organizers stressed that the Israeli regime would be fully responsible for any harm done to Bashiti, affirming that he suffers from diabetes and needs special medical care.

They urged international human rights organizations to urgently intervene to pressure the Israeli authorities to release the Palestinian kid.

In April last year, the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission says nearly 200 Palestinian children are kept behind bars in Israeli prisons in inhumane conditions, undergoing "very rough interrogation process and torture."

Israel keeps 200 Palestinian children in prisons in inhumane conditions: Palestinian commission

The Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission says nearly 200 Palestinian children are behind bars in Israeli prisons in inhumane conditions, undergoing very rough interrogation process and torture.

The Israeli regime refuses to release jailed Palestinian children despite repeated calls from the international community and rights groups as the COVID-19 pandemic rages across the globe, including the occupied Palestinian territories. 

Back in March 2019, the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, said that around 40 Palestinian children had been killed and hundreds more wounded in a year of anti-occupation protest rallies along the fence that separates the besieged Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. 

More than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently being held in some 17 Israeli jails, with dozens of them serving multiple life sentences.

Over 500 detainees are under Israel’s so-called policy of administrative detention in various Israeli prisons with some prisoners being held in that condition for up to 11 years without any charges.

Amnesty urges Israel to ensure COVID-19 vaccines for Palestinians

The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported more than 100,000 confirmed cases in the West Bank, including 1,100 deaths.

The so-called Israeli administrative detention is a form of imprisonment without trial or charge that allows the Israeli authorities to incarcerate Palestinians for up to six months, which could be extended for an infinite number of times.

Palestinian detainees have continuously resorted to open-ended hunger strikes to express their outrage at the detentions.

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