As a result of the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) continued deliberate policy of medical negligence against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, a 78-year-old cancer-stricken Palestinian prisoner, who is incarcerated in Israel’s Asqalan jail, suffers a very difficult worsening health condition, today warned the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission.

The commission said the health condition of Palestinian prisoner Mowafaq ‘Orooq, 78, has been severally deteriorating due to deliberate medical negligence by the prison authorities which denies Palestinian prisoners access to proper medical care.

He suffers from Intestinal and liver cancers; he lost over 15 kilograms within a year, suffers from pneumonia, low blood pressure, constant fatigue. He lives today on very strong painkillers and has difficulty walking.

The prison administration continues to neglect the prisoner’s repeated requests to provide him with a special diet plan for his specific medical condition since he is only able to eat clear liquid food, noted the commission.

‘Orooq, from Yafa an-Naseriyye, in the 1948-occupied land, was detained in 2003 and sentenced to 30 years; he is one of the 11 Palestinian prisoners suffering from various degrees of cancer.

The IPS keeps Palestinian prisoners held under deplorable conditions lacking proper hygienic standards in Israeli jails.

According to human rights groups, medical negligence has been employed as a systematic policy in Israeli jails.

The prisoner rights group Addameer asserts that the Israeli Prison Service maintains a systematic policy of medical negligence toward Palestinian detainees.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency