Palestinians protest death of West Bank Hamas leader inside Israeli prison
Palestinians have rallied in Aqqaba near Tubas in the occupied West Bank to condemn the death of a Hamas leader in Israeli custody, Reuters reports.
Mustafa Muhammad Abu Ara, 63, died after he was transferred to a hospital from the Ramon jail in southern Israel due to deteriorating health, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society and the Palestinian Commission for Detainees Affairs said in a statement.
Abu Ara, who was from Aqqaba, was arrested in October last year and subjected to torture and deprived of medical treatment, the organisations said. He is the 19th detainee known to have died in Israeli custody since October 7.
Gaza ministry condemns death of Hamas leader in Israeli custody
The Ministry of Detainees in the besieged coastal enclave says Mustafa Abu Ara died in Israeli custody “due to torture and deliberate medical negligence”.
Since October 7, Israeli authorities have subjected Palestinian detainees to “inhumane detention conditions and systematic assault”, the ministry said, calling it “an ugly slow death that is happening undetected” by international organisations.
The ministry also said it has documented “eyewitness statements and testimonies by released prisoners that are shocking and horrifying, and are tantamount to crimes against humanity”.
These include the use of prisoners as human shields and the killing of others using bulldozers during the detention process. Inside prison, detainees are subject to overcrowding, the spread of infectious diseases, lack of adequate food and no access to lawyers.
Son of deceased Hamas leader blames conditions of Israeli detention for death
Zeid Abu Ara, the son of Hamas leader Mustafa Muhammad Abu Ara, who died in Israeli detention, has blamed Israel for the death of his father.
“The full responsibility lies on those who arrested him, knowing his medical history,” Abu Ara told Al Jazeera.
“He’s a sick prisoner who suffers from many health problems. The arrest of a person without providing the necessary medical services and the appropriate food is to be considered an execution.”
