Two Palestinians die in 'catastrophic conditions' in Israeli prison

Two Palestinian monitoring groups have warned of "catastrophic conditions" in Israeli jails after the recent deaths of two prisoners.

In a joint statement, the Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society announced on Friday the deaths of Samih Suleiman Muhammad Aliwi, 61, and Anwar Shaaban Muhammad Aslim, 44.

Aliwi, a Hamas leader from Nablus, reportedly died on 6 November, six days after he was transferred from Ayalon (Ramla) Prison clinic to Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh).

According to the statement from the monitors, one of which is a Palestinian Authority (PA) agency, the Israeli prison administration did not disclose details of his death despite an obligation to release such information. 

Aliwi had been held under administrative detention since 21 October of last year despite his pre-existing health issues. Testimony received by his lawyer indicated that Aliwi was suffering from multiple health issues prior to his arrest and had been surgically operated on several times for a benign intestinal tumour.

Read more: Two Palestinians die in 'catastrophic conditions' in Israeli prison