PNN – In a report on the occasion of World Cancer Day, the Center for the Study of Palestinian Prisoners warned about the critical situation of 26 Palestinian prisoners suffering from cancer in Israeli prisons, and announced that their lives are at risk of sudden death due to the deprivation of treatment.
Riyadh al-Ashqar, the director of the center, stated that prisoners with cancer are kept with only simple painkillers instead of receiving specialized treatment protocols.
He emphasized that after the October 7, 2023 operation, conditions in Israeli prisons have deteriorated sharply, and the prison administration has denied sick prisoners the most basic rights to medical care and nutrition.
According to the report, cancer was the leading cause of death for prisoners before the recent war, but now torture has replaced it.
Al-Ashqar referred to the martyrdom of two Palestinian prisoners in recent months, both of whom lost their lives in captivity due to deliberate medical negligence while battling advanced stages of cancer.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Studies Center’s statement said that among the infected are two female prisoners named “Fida Assaf” and “Suhair Zaaqiq”, who are deprived of any treatment.
According to this report, long-time prisoners such as “Jamal Ibrahim Amr” (sentenced to life imprisonment), whose cancer has spread to his liver and kidneys, and “Fawaz Saba’a Ba’ara” who, in addition to his cancer, requires open-heart surgery, are also in the worst physical conditions.
Emphasizing that the environment of Zionist prisons is a breeding ground for the spread of deadly diseases, this human rights organization called on the World Health Organization and international organizations to take action to save the lives of these prisoners and immediately release them before time runs out.