On Thursday, the Palestinian Detainees’ Committee has reported that the cancer-stricken detainee, Nasser Abu Hmeid, 49, is in a serious health condition, adding that his health is gradually declining, an issue that is posing more risk of death.
The Committee’s Lawyer, Karim al-Ajwa, managed to visit the ailing detainee on Thursday and said Nasser recently underwent four chemotherapy sessions and is supposed to have a fifth session at the beginning of this coming month.
Ajwa said that after the fifth session is held at an Israeli medical center, the doctors will do some tests to evaluate the condition of his lungs and whether he is responding to the treatment.
Ajwa added that Abu Hmeid suffers constant pain, fatigue, inability to walk, or breath without oxygen, and is dependent on a wheelchair with an oxygen tank attached whenever he leaves his bed.
The Committee called on the International Community to intervene and secure his release so that he could receive treatment at Palestinian civilian hospitals close to his family.
In August of 2021, after complaints of severe chest pain, Abu Hmeid was diagnosed with a lung tumor, and on October 19, 2021, he underwent surgery to remove a lung tumor that was 10 cm in diameter.
He was transferred back to Ashkelon prison and later began chemotherapy, leaving him at an elevated risk for recurrent infections.
Abu Hmeid, from the Al-Amari camp, east of Ramallah, in the central occupied West Bank, was detained in 2002 and sentenced to seven life sentences plus 50 years.
Furthermore, the Israeli army has demolished the family home five times, and four of his brothers are in Israeli prisons, while a fifth brother was shot dead by soldiers in 1994.
