Corona enters the prisons of the occupation ... and Israel for five thousand prisoners: "Use socks"

Raed Musa - Gaza

The Prisoners' Information Office said that the Israeli Prison Administration informed the Palestinian prisoners of the existence of four cases of coronavirus among their ranks in Megiddo Prison, and the office explained - in a brief statement - that three of the prisoners were in Section 10, while one case was reported in Section 5.

The families of the prisoners are in a state of anxiety and anticipation, with the increase in the number of cases of coronavirus in Israel, accusing the occupation authorities of not taking any measures to protect their children in Israeli prisons, in light of the lack of cleaning materials, sterilization, and deliberate medical neglect.

Instead of the occupation authorities taking extraordinary measures to protect Palestinian prisoners in its prisons, it imposed additional restrictions on five thousand prisoners, including women, children, and sick people, which made them an easy "prey" for the Corona virus currently spread in Israel and around the world.

Fertile focus
Palestinians say that the occupation prisons constitute a "fertile spot" for the spread of epidemics and diseases, as they are old, worn out and overcrowded with prisoners.

The director of the Documentation and Studies Department at the Prisoners and Editors Affairs Authority, former captive Abdel Nasser Farwana, told Al-Jazeera Net that a real threat threatens the lives of prisoners in the occupation prisons, in light of the so-called "prison administration administration" ignoring the deteriorating conditions that constitute an appropriate environment for the spread of the Corona virus. .

Although Israel is witnessing an increasing rate of HIV infection, it has not taken any measure to protect the lives of prisoners in its prisons, who suffer mainly from the policy of medical neglect.

Five thousand prisoners
And occupies about five thousand prisoners in the occupation prisons, among them 180 children and 43 women, including 16 mothers, and among these prisoners more than 700 male and female prisoners in need of medical intervention because of their suffering from motor disabilities and chronic and serious diseases.

Farwana said that the prisoners live a tragic reality inside the "dirty" and overcrowded prisons, and the infection of one prisoner with the virus means the spread of the epidemic among all the prisoners.

He added that at a time when the countries of the world are taking exceptional measures to confront the virus and limit its spread, including the liberation of prisoners, Israel has shown habitual disregard for the lives of thousands of prisoners by confiscating cleaning materials and sterilization, and has pulled dozens of food items from prison canteens, and prisoners have become without "prevention" Or feed. "

Use socks
When the prisoner's representative asked the Prison Authority Administration as medical masks to prevent the virus, she responded with recklessness and sarcasm: "Use socks," said Farwana.

And the occupation authorities decided - for the second consecutive week - to stop the program of family visits for their children in prisons, according to what the International Committee of the Red Cross announced.

"This is the only measure that Israel has taken in the context of fighting the virus, and although we support any measure to protect our prisoners, we question the intentions of the occupation," Israel said. "Israel wants to double the suffering of the prisoners and increase the concern of the families over their children, not their protection."

A state of terror and anxiety dominated the families of the prisoners, after circulation of reports that a Palestinian prisoner was injured in the "Ashkelon" prison. He called an Israeli doctor suspected of being infected with the virus.

Isolated inside Isolate
According to human rights organizations concerned with the prisoners, Israel confines the prisoners suspected of being infected with the virus in "unilateral cells", and without any appropriate health measures.

The Palestinians fear that Israel will take advantage of the world's preoccupation with the virus, escalate against the prisoners, and seize more of their acquired rights through their struggles over many years.

The head of the "International Organization for the Defense of the Rights of the Palestinian People" (Hashd), lawyer Salah Abdel Ati - told Al Jazeera Net - that there are real risks facing the lives of thousands of prisoners.

He stressed that Israel had not taken any measures to protect the lives of the prisoners, whether by releasing them, or at least providing them with protective tools, but rather imposed more restrictions.

Israel violates these practices of international humanitarian law, and it is genuinely feared that a "tragedy" will occur among the prisoners, according to Abdel-Atti.

Neighborhood cemeteries
Najat Al-Agha, 70, the mother of the captive Diaa who has been detained for 28 years - told Al Jazeera Net - that she did not know the "taste of sleep" since the spread of Corona, fearing for the lives of Diaa and his colleagues in prison.

Umm Dhiya bitterly asked: "If we are afraid of the virus, how can prisoners deprived of their most basic rights face danger ... Why does the world not act to protect our children?"

The last time Um Dhia visited her son was in "Nafha" prison in June, after being deprived of this for two years.

She said: "The situation inside prisons is terrifying, and severe overcrowding brings diseases. In the one room, ten prisoners, and the majority of the prisoners are sick and elderly."

Umm Zia prayed to God to spare the prisoners in the "cemeteries of the living" in which they are located, the danger of corona and occupation.