Cancer-stricken Palestinian detainee in Israeli prisons loses ability to eat

Ramallah (QNN)- Cancer-stricken Palestinian detainee in Israeli prisons Naser Abu Hmeid has lost his ability to eat as well as lost significant weight as a result of the spread of cancer in his body, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said today.

The PPS confirmed that 49-year-old Abu Hmeid is suffering from severe weight loss and pain all over his body, especially in the chest.

It added Abu Hmeid has begun to suffer from difficulties in speaking due to the continued spread of cancer in his body.
Abu Hmeid’s health severely deteriorated at the end of last year, and he was transferred to Barzilai hospital, where he entered into a coma.

He was then transferred to the Ramla prison clinic, where he began chemotherapy treatment for several months before it was stopped when the hospital said it would no longer have any impact. The infamous Ramla prison clinic lacks specialists and adequate medical supplies and Abu Hmeid urgently needs medical follow-up.

The PPS noted that recent medical reports indicate rapid deterioration of Abu Hmeid’s health condition, as he is only provided with painkillers after the doctors decided to stop his chemotherapy treatment.

Abu Hmeid was diagnosed with lung cancer in August 2021 after Israeli occupation authorities delayed the provision of medical examinations and treatment, according to prisoner groups.

He was suffering from pain for a long time before they agreed to do medical tests on him.

Last September, Abu Hmeid’s family and prisoner groups said he was facing “his last days” based on an Israeli medical report they received from the Assaf Harofeh hospital; which recommended his immediate release from prison.

Israeli occupation arrested Abu Hmeid, from the Al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah, in 2002 and sentenced him to seven life sentences and 50 years in prison.

Four other brothers of Naser are in Israeli prisons: Nasr, 47, Sharif, 45, Mohammad, 38, and Islam, 35. ‘Israel’ has sentenced all of them to life.

Moreover, Israeli occupation forces shot dead a fifth brother, Abdul Meniem, in 1994. It also demolished the house of the family several times.

Prisoner advocacy groups said ‘Israel’ adopts a deliberate medical negligence with Palestinian detainees as a part of its policy to weaken them.

Since 1967, 227 Palestinian detainees have died inside Israeli prisons, 72 of them due to deliberate medical negligence.
It is noteworthy that about 600 sick detainees in the occupation prisons, including 23 detainees, suffer from cancer and tumors of various degrees.