Palestinians Mark Prisoners’ Day Across West Bank
WEST BANK (Dispatches) –
Palestinians across the occupied West Bank commemorated the annual Prisoners’ Day on Thursday, by holding rallies and demonstrations, dedicated to the nearly 10,000 detainees held in the Zionist regime’s prisons.
Many of these prisoners face years in Israeli detention with no charge, suffering from abuse and torture.
The Palestinian Authority’s Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs reported on Thursday, a Palestinian man who nearly completed his prison sentence in an Israeli jail has died.
Musab Adili, 20, from the village of Osarin near Nablus in the north of the occupied West Bank, died in the Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva last night, the Israeli Civil Administration told the Palestinian side.
Adili had been detained since March 22, 2024 and was serving a 13-month prison sentence. He was scheduled to be released in three days.
The cause of Adili’s death remains unclear due to a ban on lawyers’ visits imposed by the Israel Prison Service.
Luay Adili, his uncle, told Middle East Eye that the young man had been held in Megiddo Prison throughout his detention, and that he had been moved to Naqab Prison about a month ago.
He said his relatives had not been informed that Adili had been transferred to the hospital and that they were not aware of any health issues concerning him.
“Two weeks ago, a prisoner was released from Naqab Prison and told us that Musab was fine and sent us his greetings. Then today, we are shocked by the news of his death without knowing any details,” he said.
The family, who was preparing to celebrate Adili’s release, is now asking to recover his body to bury him in the village.
According to the Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs, his death brings the number of Palestinians who have died in Israeli prisons since October 7, 2023 to 64, including at least 40 people from the Gaza Strip.
The figures include only those whose identities are known, as the whereabouts of many Palestinians are unknown among accusations of forced disappearances by the Zionist troops amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
The total number of Palestinian prisoners who have died in Israeli jail since 1967 has reached 301, while the number of prisoners whose bodies are being held by the Zionist regime’s authorities has reached 73, including 62 since October 2023, according to Palestinian data.
The commission accused the Israeli prison authorities of subjecting Palestinian detainees to “systematic crimes, most notably torture, starvation, assaults of all kinds, medical crimes, sexual assaults and the deliberate imposition of conditions that lead to their contracting serious and contagious diseases.”
While Israel has long been criticized for its brutal treatment of Palestinian prisoners, conditions have significantly worsened since the Gaza war.