Today, a press interview was held at the headquarters of the Prisoners Authority in the city of Al-Bireh, at the invitation of the prisoners’ institutions, and the national and Islamic forces, with the participation of the Minister of Health, May Al-Kaila , and a group of sick prisoners’ families, including the family of the leader Walid Daqqa , the family of the prisoner Asif Al-Rifai , and the administrative detainee Abdel Basset Maatan . , who are facing cancer, in addition to the family of administrative detainee Khaled Al-Nawabit , who suffers from chronic heart problems.

The participants called for the need to intervene for the sake of the freedom of the sick prisoners, and to keep their cause present, with solidarity and real effort, on several levels, so that these efforts lead to their freedom and rescue.

Minister Al-Kaila also demanded that Palestinian doctors be allowed to conduct medical examinations of the prisoners inside the Israeli occupation prisons, and to work to provide them with the necessary medicines and treatment, and to work for the immediate release of sick prisoners to allow them to receive appropriate treatment in specialized hospitals, holding the occupation authorities fully responsible for their lives, as well. The occupation prison administration was held responsible for the continuation of the series of medical negligence against prisoners.

Sana Salama, the wife of prisoner Walid Daqqa, who suffers from cancer, said that as for Walid’s case, he is still in Barzilai Hospital in the city of Ashkelon, in a very serious health condition. He was not transferred to the hospital in a timely manner, or according to the need to transfer him, and to monitor his health condition, so his health condition has deteriorated recently.

And she continued: The main disease that he suffers from is (myelofibrosis), and any new disease that affects a newborn, even if it is a simple flu, cold, or germ, puts him in the same grave danger.

And she added: We need the coming days to pass peacefully and for him to reach a certain state of stability so that we can build on this state of stability, so the doctors say, in order to be optimistic that he will get out of the health crisis that afflicted him. Walid would not have reached this state if it had been Transfer him to the hospital at the right time, as there was a delay in his transfer, and by chance we had a visit to him at the time, and it was on Monday in Ashkelon prison, and he came to the visit in a deplorable condition, and we as a family refused to complete the visit and asked the warden to return Walid to the room And also that he be transferred to the hospital, and that was as I mentioned on Monday, except that he was transferred on Thursday night, and he arrived at the hospital suffering from a general decline in all his vital signs, and had it not been for our great pressure and our conversation with the prisoners, and with the prisoners’ representatives in all prisons, About the need to transfer him to the hospital, so that he arrived in a condition in which it was not possible to help him.

Sanaa Salama added, in light of her demand for the release of the prisoner, accuracy, saying: We pray that there are not only popular campaigns advocating for the prisoners and their families, when the prisoners reach this limit, and to this level of serious danger, the issue of prisoners is supposed to be worked on, and the issue of medical negligence is discussed, The most important thing is to talk about a horizon for their liberation.

And she continued: After 37 years, Walid should have been in his home, and with his family, had it not been for the persistence in oppression and abuse, and now he is spending an additional two years, which have become two very fateful years for him, and I call on our people and tell them that solidarity with our families is not enough, but rather they must unite. Efforts. In addition to the human rights institutions, there is the political level. It is also inconceivable that the political level does not make the necessary effort, at least to keep the issue of prisoners on the agenda and in the media, perhaps not to ensure their liberation, but at least in order for them to receive appropriate treatment.

In a speech by Abd al-Moati al-Rifai, the father of the cancer-stricken prisoner Asif al-Rifai, who faces a very serious health condition, and his condition is considered one of the most difficult cases in the occupation prisons, he stressed that cancer cells have spread throughout his son’s body, and have reached, in addition to the colon, new parts of the intestines. glands, and liver, and that his health condition is rapidly deteriorating, and he urgently needs chemotherapy.

The prisoner's father, Al-Rifai, continued: His situation is more difficult and worse than we can imagine. Every visit or court session is worse than the previous one. In the last trial session, the judge decided that this last session should be ready for him, and this indicates the great danger he has reached. Asif has a strong build, and does not give up easily, although he suffers from severe pains in his body, while the prison administration is satisfied with providing him with painkillers.

While Zubaida Maatan said that her captive husband, Abdul Basit Maatan, is facing a continuous deterioration in his health condition, as he has not received any treatment since his arrest in July 2022.

She added that her husband used to receive medicines and food supplements before his arrest, and when he was arrested, he took them with him, but the occupation prison administration confiscated them and prevented him from taking them, while she conceals his medical file and refuses to submit it to the courts, in order to continue extending his administrative detention.

She added: He recently suffered from inflammation of the sciatic nerve, a continuous decrease in weight, and general weakness in the body, pointing out that since his arrest he was transferred to the hospital twice for a CT scan and an endoscopy, and after a month of taking the image, the doctor, who is a general and non-specialist doctor, confirmed to him that He has a mass on the lung, the nature of which has not been determined.

As for Ahlam Al-Nawabit, the wife of the sick prisoner, Khaled Nawabit, who has been administratively detained since last November, she said: Her husband, who is in Ofer prison, urgently needs open-heart surgery, as he suffers from a weak heart valve, and he was scheduled to undergo the operation. before his arrest.