Palestinian detainee dies in Israeli hospital: Palestinian authority

By Aysar Alais

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Palestinian prisoner receiving treatment in an Israeli hospital has died, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs announced on Sunday.

According to the commission, Muhammad Munir Musa, a 37-year-old resident of Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, died at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, southern Israel.

The authority stated that Musa had been detained by Israeli authorities since April 20, 2023.

He had been held in Megiddo Prison before being transferred to the hospital while still in custody. Musa had three daughters, the youngest being three-year old.

The commission highlighted that Musa had been suffering from diabetes prior to his arrest, adding that no further details were provided regarding the circumstances of his death.

It also noted: "The systematic crimes of the occupation (Israeli forces), including torture, medical negligence, and starvation, have been the primary causes of the deaths of 40 detainees since Oct. 7, 2023."

The commission condemned “the unprecedented and systematic crimes committed by Israeli authorities,” asserting that these actions aim to “eliminate prisoners on political orders.”

The commission called on international human rights organizations, which it said have “historically failed to address the crimes and brutality of the occupation,” to resume their essential roles in “holding Israeli leaders accountable for their actions and to put an end to these practices.”

Since last Oct. 7, the number of Palestinian prisoners from the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, has exceeded 11,100, according to Palestinian records.

Tensions have been high across the occupied West Bank amid an ongoing Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has claimed nearly 42,200 Palestinian lives, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7 last year.

According to Palestinian sources, at least 751 Palestinians have been killed, and nearly 6,250 injured in the occupied territory during the same period.

The situation continues to escalate following a landmark opinion by the International Court of Justice on July 19, which declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi