A Palestinian ex-prisoner died on Wednesday night in a Ramallah hospital after a long struggle with cancer, according to the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission.

The commission claimed that Hussein Masalma, an ex-prisoner, died at al-Istishari Hospital in Ramallah due to complications resulting from Israeli medical negligence.

Footage filmed on Thursday shows Palestinians attending his funeral.

Masalma, a resident of the Bethlehem-district town of al-Khader, was arrested by the Israel army in 2002 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

While in prison, Maslama’s medical condition deteriorated.

After serving 19 years in Israeli prisons, Masalma was released on February 14. He was moved to the Israeli hospital of Hadassah in Jerusalem before being transferred to the Istishari Hospital in Ramallah on September 13.

Footage by/ APAwire

0.1 SOUNDBITE (in Arabic) Father of Hussein Masalma.
0.2 SOUNDBITE (in Arabic) Munqith Abu Atwan - Director of the Prisoners Club in Bethlehem.

RESTRICTION SUMMARY: Bethlehem - 23 September 2021. Palestinians attend the funeral of an ex-prisoner Hussein Masalma who was died at al-Istishari Hospital in Ramallah due to complications resulting from Israeli medical negligence at the time he was in custody in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

0.1 SOUNDBITE (in Arabic) Father of Hussein Masalma.
0.2 SOUNDBITE (in Arabic) Munqith Abu Atwan - Director of the Prisoners Club in Bethlehem.

STORYLINE:

A Palestinian ex-prisoner Wednesday night died in a Ramallah hospital after a long struggle with cancer, according to the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission.

The Commission announced in a press statement that Hussein Masalma, an ex-prisoner, died at al-Istishari Hospital in Ramallah due to complications resulting from Israeli medical negligence and procrastination at the time he was in custody.

Masalma, a resident of the Bethlehem-district town of al-Khader, was arrested by the Israel army in 2002 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

While in prison, Maslama’s medical condition deteriorated and he was subjected to medical negligence. He was suffering from pains for over two months during which the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) procrastinated in hospitalizing him, according to the Commission Director, Munqeth Abu-Atwan.

He added that IPS held Masalma in the Naqab Prison in southern Israel and subjected him to the systematic medical negligence, causing his condition to severely deteriorate. Upon his admission to the hospital, it became clear that Masalma had end-stage Leukemia.

After serving 19 years in Israeli prisons, Masalma was released on February 14, when his condition became too critical as Israel denied him urgently-needed medical care and Israel’s negligence caused him inevitable slow death.

He was first moved to the Israeli hospital of Hadassah in Jerusalem before being transferred to the Istishari Hospital in Ramallah on September 13.


Footage by/ APAwire