The Israeli occupation forces are using scabies as one of their primary methods of physical torture against Palestinian prisoners, deliberately preventing them from receiving treatment despite the worsening health conditions of many detainees. Furthermore, the Israeli authorities are intentionally exacerbating the conditions that led to the widespread outbreak of the disease among the prisoners.
In their ongoing efforts to harm Palestinian prisoners, the Israeli occupation has resorted to using diseases and viruses as tools to compromise their health. After exhausting every brutal method of physical abuse, the Israeli regime has turned to biological weapons, intentionally denying prisoners any medical care. Additionally, they create overcrowded conditions within the cells, while systematically preventing prisoners from having access to cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items.
In this context, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, Amjad al-Najjar, revealed to the Algerian news agency (APS) a “health disaster” in the Negev prison, where thousands of prisoners are held. The outbreak of scabies has affected hundreds of detainees, causing severe and complex health issues. He noted that the prison authorities continue to exacerbate the root causes of the disease’s spread, while deliberately denying prisoners the treatment they need, using the disease as a means of torture, both physically and psychologically.
According to al-Najjar, following visits by the club’s lawyers to the prison, “the testimonies of the prisoners reflected the tragic and degrading conditions they endure, confirming once again that the Israeli prison system seeks to kill detainees by any means, including fostering the spread of diseases among them. This is in addition to the systematic crimes, particularly torture and medical neglect, as hundreds of prisoners suffer from chronic and severe health conditions.”
Al-Najjar pointed out that “many of the sick prisoners are recently being transferred to the Negev prison, which has long been a center for torture, physical assaults, disease outbreaks, and particularly scabies, with the aim of causing their deaths.”
The spokesperson emphasized that “these are just a small sample of the hundreds of infected prisoners, who are subjected to systematic medical crimes and continuous torture, as the Israeli occupation uses disease as a tool of torment. The testimonies of the prisoners include extremely harrowing details of their suffering from the disease without receiving any form of treatment and with no effort to address the underlying causes that allow the disease to continue spreading.”
He further explained that the main reasons behind the disease’s spread include a lack of cleaning materials, the prisoners’ inability to shower regularly, and the absence of clean clothing. Most prisoners only have one set of clothes, which are often confiscated by the authorities under the pretext of distributing standardized clothing to everyone, which in reality is never delivered. Prisoners are forced to wash their clothes by hand, and the Israeli authorities prevent them from drying them, leaving the clothes damp, which has greatly contributed to the spread of skin diseases.
Al-Najjar also noted that the continued spread of scabies among the prisoners will likely lead to the death of many inside the prisons, adding to the already high number of martyrs, especially since October 7, 2023.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club is calling on the international human rights system to regain its role in preventing the Israeli occupation forces from committing these crimes, urging all possible measures to pressure the occupiers to stop the abuse against the prisoners in Israeli jails and detention centers.
Author: nor eleslam
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