‘Israel’ exploits coronavirus crisis to oppress prisoners

Ramallah (QNN)- The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) said Tuesday that Palestinian prisoners decided to reject meals and close their sections on the next Friday and Saturday as a preliminary step to protest against Israeli measures taken against them during the coronavirus crisis.

The Israeli Prison Service (IPS) has removed 140 kinds of the goods that it used to sell in the prisons’ cantinas, including cleaning supplies that are essential for sterilizing the already crowded cells.

The NGO noted that the IPS also announced stopping medical treatments unless any of the prisoners has a fever. All urgent check-ups have been canceled.

The PPS added that “instead of taking the needed measures to prevent any coronavirus spread, the IPS has taken punitive measures that aim at increasing the oppression of the prisoners.”

Palestinian prisoners are jailed in very poor and unhealthy conditions that usually cause illness to the prisoners. Some prisoners have even died due to the very poor conditions in Israeli jails.

The occupation state holds nearly 5000 Palestinians in its jails. 43 of them are females, 180 are children, nearly 700 are sick, and over 200 of them have chronic diseases.