Dozens of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip reportedly staged a demonstration, on Sunday, in protest of what they said Israeli maltreatment of a Palestinian prisoner held in Israeli jail.
The protesters, representing many Islamic and national Palestinian political factions in the coastal enclave, showed solidarity with prisoner Kamal Abu Waer, from the northern West Bank city of Jenin.
The gathering took place outside of the office of International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza city, where a number of participants spoke to the demonstrators.
Representative for the ruling Islamist Hamas party in the Israel-besieged territory, Iyad Abu Fanoun, told the protestors that prisoner Abu Waer, has been suffering from medical negligence, despite the fact that he has been plagued by cancer, requiring special medication which is not provided in Israeli prison.
He further noted that all Palestinian factions, including his own party, have been seeking freedom of all Palestinian prisoners and that Abu Waer is one of those patient prisoners, who must be released immediately.
No further details were reported abut Abu Waer, who is one of around 5,000 Palestinian prisoners others, held by Israel at 20 Israeli jails and detention centers, across the occupied Palestinian West Bank and inside Israel, itself.
Recently, the Hamas party has expressed readiness to hold a prisoner swap deal with Israel, under international mediation.
Since the end of Israel’s 2014 military attack on the besieged Gaza Strip, Israel has claimed that Hamas holds hostage two Israel citizens and two other soldiers, believed to have been dead. In its recent announcement about a possible swap deal, Hamas said it could release the two citizens and release information about the two soldiers, in return for an Israeli release of hundreds of women, children and prisoners suffering health problems.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS), Abu Waer, from the town of Qabatiya, suffers from cancer of the throat and has undergone 50 radiation treatments.
Recent testing showed that the tumor has increased in size, causing speech problems in addition to swallowing problems, resulting in weight loss.
Prisoner Waer, 46, has been incarcerated since 2003, serving six life terms in Israel’s Gilboa prison, the Palestinian Information reports.
Image: PPS Facebook
