PA libel: Israel "slowly murders" Palestinian prisoners as part of a "systematic policy of medical neglect"
Headline: “Released prisoner and cancer patient Hussein Masalmeh died as a Martyr”
“The [PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs announced that released prisoner and cancer patient Hussein Masalmeh (PMW was unable to determine the nature of his crimes -Ed.) died as a Martyr last night [Sept. 22, 2021] at the Istishari Hospital in Ramallah.
It should be noted that the occupation (i.e., Israeli) authorities ordered to release prisoner Masalmeh, 39, from the town of Al-Khdeir south of Bethlehem on Feb. 14, 2021, and that he was transferred to the Hadassah Hospital in occupied Jerusalem.
Since the end of last year [2020] Masalmeh’s health deteriorated. He suffered from pains for more than two months, during which the occupation’s Israeli Prison Service delayed in transferring him to the hospital and implemented a systematic policy of medical neglect(slow murder) [parentheses in source] against him (sic., see note below regarding PA libel on medical abuse of Palestinian prisoners). At the time he was at Ketziot Prison, until his health became serious and he was transferred to the hospital where it became clear later on that he was sick with leukemia at an advanced stage.
Masalmeh was at Hadassah Hospital until Sept. 13, 2021, and then he was transferred to Istishari Hospital in Ramallah.
It should be noted that prisoner Masalmeh was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to 20 years, of which he served approximately 19 years.”
Libel on medical abuse of Palestinian prisoners - The PA claims that Israel abuses Palestinian prisoners through medical neglect, medical experiments, and by intentionally infecting them with diseases. However, the International Red Cross regularly visits these prisoners and has not documented or accused Israel of any of these claims. Likewise, lists of demands occasionally issued by the prisoners during hunger strikes—such as during one in 2011—include no demands relating to these claims. PMW has documented prisoners talking about how they "lack nothing" in the prisons and that "the worst thing about Israeli prison" is riding in a prison vehicle that has no padding on the seat. When PMW contacted the Israeli Ministry of Health in 2007 regarding PA claims of medical experiments on prisoners, the ministry responded: "Clinical testing on prisoners in prison was never approved, never performed, and is most certainly not taking place at present."