The Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ Affairs has confirmed, on Wednesday morning, the death of an elderly Palestinian political prisoner at Israeli medical center following years of medical neglect.
The Commission stated that Sa’adi Khalil al-Gharabily, 75, from Gaza, has died on Wednesday morning, at an Israeli medical center, after suffering for several years from various health conditions, including cancer.
Qadri Abu Bakr, the head of the Commission, has reported that Israel confirmed his death to one of its lawyers, adding that the detainee died at Kaplan Medical Center.
Although some media outlets have reported his death, Tuesday, the detainee was still in a critical condition hooked life support machines, before he was declared clinically dead, and eventually died.
It is worth mentioning that his family has been denied the right to visit with him since the year 1999.
The Commission called on Israel to transfer his corpse to the Palestinians for an autopsy and a proper burial ceremony.
Former political prisoner, researcher and the head of the Studies and Documentation Committee of the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees, Abdul-Nasser Ferwana, has confirmed to the IMEMC the death of al-Gharabily, and stated that the deceased was the second oldest detainee in Israeli prisons, the oldest being Fuad Shobaki, 80.
He added that al-Gharabily was serving a life term in prison after an Israeli court convicted him of killing an Israeli officer in Tel Aviv in the year 1994. He spent most of his sentence in solitary confinement under inhumane conditions, including when he was held in a cell from the year 1994 until 2006.
His death brings the number of detainees, who died or were killed, in Israeli prisons since the year 1967 to 224.
Ferwana stated that 73 detainees died after being continuously and severely tortured, and seven others were shot and killed while in prison, and added that hundreds of Palestinians also died after being released from Israeli prisons after being denied proper and specialized medical treatment while in captivity.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) issued a statement denouncing the serious and ongoing Israeli violations against the detainees, including denying them access to specialized medical treatment, in addition to the solitary confinement policies, torture and constant abuse.
The PPS added that at least 700 Palestinian detainees require proper and specialized medical care, but are denied this basic right, and called on forming a nonaligned medical committee that supervises healthcare of ailing detainees, and those with special needs.
It also urged international legal and human rights groups to intervene and provide protection to the Palestinian people, living under the illegal Israeli occupation of their homeland, and to ensure that Israel abides by all related international treaties and conventions.
