80th Palestinian to die in Israeli occupation jails since October 7, 2023

Another Palestinian has died in Israeli occupation prisons, the 80^th to do so since October 7, 2023. The killing comes just a day after that of 49-year-old Mahmoud Talal Abdullah. He died from medical neglect while in custody.

69-year-old Palestinian political prisoner Kamel Mohammed Mahmoud Al-Ajrami, who was abducted from the Gaza Strip on October 25, 2024, passed away at the occupation’s Soroka Hospital, after being held in Naqab Prison. He was married and was a father to six children.

On the same day as Al-Ajrami died in custody, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) released a statement about the serious deterioration in the health of another prisoner, who contracted scabies more than six months ago but has been denied treatment. Israeli occupation forces also detained Azmi Nader Abu Hlayel, 31, from Hebron, in Ofer Prison since December 2024. His lawyer reports that he now has boils spreading across his back and ulcers appearing on his skin, and is unable to sleep.

Israeli prisons: Another prisoner seriously assaulted by prison staff

prison forces assaulted Abu Hlayel last September after repeatedly requesting medical treatment. They fired rubber bullets at him, making his condition much worse. There is also a policy of systematic starvation in the prison, which has made his weight drop to 49 kilogrammes.

Thousands of detainees have contracted Scabies skin disease while inside Israeli occupation prisons. The disease has become a tool of torture due to the Israeli Prison Service’s deliberate efforts to maintain the conditions that cause it. These include a shortage of cleaning materials and disinfectants, depriving prisoners of regular showers, and a lack of clean clothes, if any.

Denial of treatment used by ‘Israel’ as a form of torture

The Israeli occupation’s prison administration constantly ignores prisoners’ repeated requests for treatment. This has led many prisoners to die from the spread of epidemics and skin diseases. According to the PPS, Palestinian prisoners in the occupation’s jails are facing an escalating health catastrophe. This, alongside daily forms of oppression and violation, remains part of a policy aimed at gradually torturing and killing them.

Featured image via the Canary