Elderly Palestinian dies after 26 years in Israeli prison


A Palestinian prisoner died on Wednesday after 26 years in Israeli prison.

Palestinian human rights groups and political parties accused Israel of years of medical neglect in the death of Saadi al-Gharabli.

Israeli prison authorities transferred al-Gharabli from Eshel prison in the south to the Kaplan Medical Center in central Israel a few days before he died. He was reportedly unconscious.

Al-Gharabli, 75, had various medical conditions, including prostate cancer. Israeli prison authorities failed to provide him with adequate medical treatment.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club said al-Gharabli faced the “slow killing” of medical negligence over years of imprisonment.

It says al-Gharabli is one of 69 Palestinians who have died from medical negligence in Israeli custody since 1967.

He was arrested in 1994 for alleged involvement in the killing of an Israeli soldier in Tel Aviv and was given a life sentence.

He spent the first 12 years of his detention in solitary confinement.

Al-Gharabli was from the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City and had ten children. He was one of the oldest and longest-serving Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

Political parties condemnation

The executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization said al-Gharabli’s death is “a new crime added to the record of crimes committed against the prisoners movement as a result of medical negligence.”

The Islamic Jihad resistance group assigned Israel “full responsibility for the policy of medical neglect that led to the martyrdom of many heroic prisoners in occupation prisons.”

Hamas also accused prison authorities of negligence in the death of al-Gharabli.

The former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, Rami Hamdallah, condemned the conditions of al-Gharabli’s death and accused Israeli prison authorities of neglecting his care.

However, the Palestinian Authority has a lengthy record of collusion with Israel’s military occupation. This includes detaining and interrogating Palestinians who are later arrested and tortured by Israel.

There are currently 4,700 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including more than 500 serving life sentences.

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