Israel’s crime against cancer-stricken inmate won't go unpunished: Hamas

The head of the political bureau of Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, has denounced as “a crime against humanity” the martyrdom of a cancer-stricken Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails, saying the regime’s crime would not go unpunished.

Ismail Haniyeh made the remarks in a statement on Tuesday, after Nasser Abu Hamid, who was suffering from a life-threatening condition in his lungs in Israeli detention, was pronounced dead by the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs earlier in the day, the Palestinian Information Center reported. 

The Hamas chief further expressed his sincere condolences over Abu Hamid’s martyrdom to his mother and detained brothers, reiterating the movement’s commitment to liberating all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and every inch of Palestine.

Abu Hamid was declared dead on Tuesday morning at the Israeli Shamir Medical Center, formerly known as Assaf Harofeh Medical Center and located 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) southeast of Tel Aviv.

He was transferred from the Ramla Prison Hospital to the medical center on Monday afternoon after his health condition severely deteriorated and fell into a deep coma.

Abu Hamid was diagnosed with cancer in August 2021.

The 50-year-old Palestinian prisoner was wrestling with death as the Israeli prison service (IPS) continued to deny him necessary medical care.

He had been incarcerated since 2002 and was sentenced to life imprisonment after an Israeli court found him guilty of participating in attacks during the Second Palestinian Intifadha (uprising).

Last September, Israeli doctors issued a medical report recommending Abu Hamid’s release, saying his lung cancer had reached an irreversible stage.

The prisoner had not received any dose of chemotherapy for several months because of extreme lethargy leading to an inability to respond to cancer drugs.

His family had appealed to all concerned international bodies to take urgent and effective action to save the life of their son.

Abu Hamid’s case to be presented to ICC

Meanwhile, Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad al-Maliki held the Israeli regime fully responsible for the martyrdom of Abu Hamid, saying his case will be represented to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Maliki also charged the international community with failing to address Abu Hamid's issue, saying he was not only a victim of the occupying regime’s oppression, but also a victim of world’s double standards.

ME