Hamas has warned that the outbreak of infectious diseases among prisoners in Israeli jails is “new evidence of the catastrophic conditions they are living under,” calling on relevant organizations to fulfill their responsibilities.
In a press statement, Hamas explained, “The widespread outbreak of infectious diseases among Palestinian prisoners inside the occupation’s jails, accompanied by a decision by the occupation’s prison administration in (Rimon) and (Nafha) to prevent lawyers from visiting the prisoners, is new evidence of the catastrophic conditions that prisoners endure as they continue to be mistreated and deprived of the most basic human rights guaranteed by all laws and statutes.”
The statement added, “The torture, denial of visits, deprivation of food, water, sleep, deliberate medical neglect, isolation, and repression that lead to the martyrdom of a number of them demonstrate that the occupation government deliberately adopts a policy of killing them, a policy that cannot be ignored, and the occupation must bear the consequences for the crimes it commits.”
Hamas called on “international organizations and those concerned with human rights to stand up to their responsibilities regarding the suffering of our prisoners inside the occupation’s jails, especially as stipulated by the Geneva Convention concerning prisoners of war.”
Hamas urged “the masses of our Palestinian people to escalate supportive actions for the prisoners, as confrontation is the only option to force and deter the occupation from continuing its crimes and violations against our heroic prisoners.”
In March, the Israeli newspaper “Haaretz” revealed that several Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails died due to medical neglect, in addition to the deteriorating conditions in the prisons due to overcrowding beyond their capacity.
The newspaper based its report on autopsy reports of deceased Palestinians, which noted signs of violent treatment on some of them.
According to the report by Haaretz, Israel detained 20,528 Palestinians in February, which is 6,000 more prisoners than the maximum capacity of 14,500 set by the prison service.
Before October 7, there were 16,000 prisoners held in Israeli facilities, and within four months, another 5,000 were imprisoned, as reported by Haaretz.
