The Ramallah-based Palestinian Committee for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners confirmed on Wednesday, that a newly released Palestinian prisoner tested positive for the coronavirus.
The announcement came after the prisoner, Noureddin Sarsour, a resident of Betunia town, west of Ramallah city, who was incarcerated for 2 weeks at Ofer Israeli prison, upon his release from prison on Tuesday, received his results, showing he had contracted the Coronavirus.
In a statement, issued Wednesday, the Palestinian Committee for Detainees and Ex-Detainees, held Israeli Prisons Authority (IPA), responsible for the newly-discovered Coronavirus case, calling for the protection of all 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in more than 20 Israeli jails.
The statement read that a team of attorneys, belonging to the committee, informed the Israeli authorities in the Ofer prison about the results of the test, and inquired about Sarsour’s recent contact with other prisoners, fearing the spread of the infectious COVID-19 virus.
“The name of Sarsour has been revealed, only after Sarsour himself had permitted the lawyers to do so. Sarsour has asked the committee’s lawyers to inform his fellow prisoners about his newly-discovered case of Coronavirus”, the statement further noted.
Last week, the Palestinian Committee for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners, inside Israeli jails, demanded all relevant international bodies to pressure the Israeli government to apply precautionary measures to protect the 5,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, including those with chronic diseases, women and minors.
It is worth noting that Cairo-based League of 22 Arab States, recently appealed to all concerned international bodies, to pressure Israel for the protection of Palestinian prisoners, in a time the Coronavirus pandemic, has spread through several countries, including the occupation state of Israel itself, where thousands of cases have been reported.
Image: Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
