Hazem Qassem Hamas’s spokesman said in a statement “The significant increase in the number of prisoners in the Israeli occupation prisons infected with coronavirus confirms the deliberate negligence of the prison administration in providing the minimal means of prevention and protection from the virus.”
Qassem added that the policy of deliberate medical negligence practiced by the Israeli prison service is a war crime and a flagrant violation of all international conventions and humanitarian norms.
He described the Israeli Minister of Internal Security Amir Ohana’s decision not to give the coronavirus vaccine to Palestinian detainees as “rude and racist.”
The Palestinian Prisoners Club had earlier confirmed that the number of coronavirus infections among the prisoners is rapidly increasing.
The club added that the administration of the Israeli Ramon prison refused to complete conducting examinations on Thursday for the prisoners in Section 1 and informed them that it would complete it next Sunday.
“The procrastination in conducting coronavirus examinations and announcing their results contributes to increasing the contact between prisoners and the increase in infections within the Section” it noted.
For its part the Prisoners Information Office reported on Thursday that the number of coronavirus infections among prisoners in the Negev desert prison has reached 59. This brings the total number of prisoners infected with the coronavirus since the outbreak of the pandemic to 246 including sick and elderly prisoners.
It warned that section 8 of Ramon prison which is designated for quarantining coronavirus infections is no longer able to accommodate new numbers of infected prisoners.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Authority held the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the prisoners’ lives especially with the increasing number of prisoners infected with the coronavirus. In Ramon prison the number of infections reached 38.
Israel is holding about 4400 Palestinians in its prisons including 40 women 170 children and about 380 administrative detainees (without charge or trial) according to official Palestinian statistics.
