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Palestinian prisoner diagnosed with cancer dies in Israeli jail

Tuesday, 20 December 2022 6:52 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 20 December 2022 6:52 PM ]

Mona Kandil

Press TV, Ramallah

Another Palestinian prisoner, seen by many here as a hero and an icon, died in an Israeli jail. Cancer stricken prisoner Nasser Abu Hmeid, the leader of al-Aqsa Martyrs brigades in Ramallah, died early Tuesday, as the Israeli authorities refused to release him alive, despite growing calls for his release following his late diagnosis with cancer more than a year ago.

Nasser was arrested at the end of the Second Intifada in 2002. He was sentenced to seven life sentences and another 50 years for deadly operations he carried out and organized.

A general strike and a day of anger and mourning has been declared in the occupied Ramallah and other west bank areas following the death of Nasser. Here at al-A’amaary refugee camp where Nasser lived, protests have taken place with hundreds of Palestinian fighters participating.

Nasser has left behind him four imprisoned siblings also serving consecutive life sentences. He joined his brother Abdel Hameed who was killed by Israeli forces in 2002.

233 Palestinian prisoners died in Israeli jails since 1967, many of them because of medical negligence. Israel today withholds in its mortuaries, the bodies of eleven prisoners including Nasser Abu Hmeid.

Even after his martyrdom in Israeli jails, the Tel Aviv regime continues to withhold Nasser Abu Hmeid body, a move Palestinians say is meant to punish his family, who say he has the right to a decent funeral procession and burial.

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