The family of Adnan Hamarsheh from the town of Yabad south of Jenin was subjected to more than 17 arrests including the father and the mother and their children at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces.
The Israeli occupation continued its assault on the family by arresting the youngest child in the family Anas Hamarsheh 17 years old who suffers from a life-threatening disease: Osteonecrosis which causes paralysis in an attempt to take revenge from the family.
Anas at risk
Reem Hamarsheh Anas’s mother who was detained for eight months says arresting her youngest song Anas is the most difficult for her.
She told the PIC reporter “We have been subjected to many assaults in this house by the occupation. Anas is my soul and a piece of my heart. Had they arrested me instead it would have been easier for me to bear.”
She added “Six years ago Anas was diagnosed with a hip Osteonecrosis and is currently undergoing treatment. The disease causes either a complete or partial paralysis and Anas will be at risk if he is not released.”
She pointed out that the occupation was fully aware of the situation of Anas and they said this when they arrested him at dawn on Saturday 7 October 2017 adding: “The occupation bears the full responsibility for the consequences that might result from the arrest of our son and the complications of his illness. He is in a desperate need for physiotherapy and to install a special device in his leg in addition to his need for special types of food to help his bone grow.”
Arrest threatens Anas’s future
The danger of Anas’s arrest didn’t only impact the health of Anas as indicated by his father the freed prisoner Adnan Hamarsheh but also his own future.
His father added “Anas is now in the high school and the occupation arrested him at the beginning of the academic year and we all know the sensitivity of this education phase for all students. We are worried because of the continuing detention of our son which could cause the loss of his academic future or could cause harm to him.”
“Since his arrest Anas has been transferred to the Jalameh interrogation center by the Israeli occupation. After several days in detention the Israeli occupation extended his detention for eleven days. He is in a very tough condition now based on my own experience in detention. His situation is contrary to the fact that he is still a child and should be at school and not in the interrogation cells” the father elaborated.
Repeated crime
The freed prisoner Adnan Hamarsheh expresses his fear that the scenario of his injury during detention will be repeated with his son during interrogation in the Israeli prisons.
He recalls what happened to him “During my interrogation on 17 February 2014 I suffered from a series of strokes. I was taken to the hospital for two days and then they brought me back to the prison despite my poor health condition.” He added “Hours after my arrival in the prison they brought me back to the hospital. Soon after they brought me back to the interrogation cell. I lost my sight for 40 days I felt as if I became paralyzed. No charge was found against me thus they placed me under administrative detention for six months.”
My arrest and preventing me from taking the needed medication increased my suffering. I suffered from a sight problem a loss of balance leaving me locked to a wheelchair until now. I am still denied the right to travel to receive medical treatment.
Hamarsheh fears that the occupation would do the same to his son Anas so that his health worsens because the occupation knows the health consequences of depriving him of treatment.
Continuous revenge
The Hamarsheh family believes that the arrest of its youngest son and its sick child Anas is part of the policy of the perpetual punishment of the family by the occupying forces.
The father Adnan Hamarsheh said that he was arrested 12 times for a total of 14 years in Israeli jails. He spent 10 years in administrative detention without a charge or a trial. Furthermore the house was stormed dozens of times destroying its furniture in the process. The mother was arrested for eight months and their eldest son Omar 26 years old was subjected to interrogation for one week earlier this year and he was released later.
Hamarsheh concludes “The aggressions of the occupation would only increase our steadfastness in our land and our right to it. The occupation always seeks to break the will of all the families that believe in resistance to liberate Palestine.”
