200 Palestinians in Israeli jails test positive for COVID-19 since start of year

At least 200 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of 2021, said the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-detainees’ Commission today.

The spokesman for the Commission Hassan Abed Rabbo told the official Voice of Palestine radio that the overall positive corona cases among the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have reached 340, mainly in Ramon and the Negev prisons.

He said five of the infected prisoners were admitted to hospitals due to deterioration in their health as a result of the virus.

Families of the prisoners are concerned about their sons, said Abed Rabbo, particularly since they are unable to visit them due to the virus restrictions.

Palestinian prisoners organizations have repeatedly stressed that the number is set to rise, saying that the deliberate procrastinations by the administartions of Israeli prisons in providing the necessary preventive measures inside sections of prisons is the reason behind the spread of the virus.

It’s worth mentioning that Israel’s Public Security Minister Amir Ohana refused to give coronavirus vaccine to Palestinian prisoners, which Palestinian organizations call “racism” and aimed at “increasing the suffering of prisoners and to psychologically torture them and their families.”

According to Palestinian estimates, there are 4,400 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, including 41 women, 170 children, and around 380 people held under Israel’s administrative detention policy, which allows the detention of Palestinians without charge or trial.

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