Warnings continue over the deteriorating health of a number of sick and injured prisoners inside what is known as the “Ramla Prison Clinic.” This comes amid a systematic disregard by the Israeli Prison Service for their medical requests and a lack of necessary medical care, despite most of them suffering from serious illnesses and severe injuries.
According to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, the prison administration deliberately delays transferring prisoners to civilian hospitals for tests or to complete treatment. When transfers do occur, prisoners are returned to the clinic without receiving the full necessary treatment, which leads to further deterioration in their health.
Prisoners also suffer from harsh living conditions inside the clinic — notably the lack of adequate space for ventilation, deprivation of clothing and basic necessities, and being served poor-quality food in insufficient quantities, without any regard for their health conditions or the dietary requirements recommended by doctors.
Prisoners added that the administration conducts daily searches of their rooms without consideration for their health or their need for rest and care, which increases their suffering and creates constant physical and psychological stress.
The clinic currently houses 18 prisoners suffering from chronic diseases and critical health conditions. Among those identified are:
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Abdel Qader Bassam Ali Diab – from Qalqilya
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Rakan Basel Omar Abed Rabbo – from Nablus
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Jabr Mahmoud Jabr Fashafsha – from the town of Jaba
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Haitham Yousef Ahmad – (further details currently unavailable)
Despite the severity of their conditions, the prison administration has transferred some of them to other prisons instead of to hospitals — a move that reflects the ongoing policy of medical neglect against them.