Palestinian Prisoner Abu Hawash Contracts Coronavirus in Israeli Hospital
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Palestinian prisoner Hisham Abu Hawash has been infected with COVID-19 in the Israeli Assaf Harofeh Hospital and is suffering from severe symptoms, his family said.
Hisham is receiving treatment in the hospital after starting a hunger strike that lasted 141 days, in rejection to his administrative detention, before suspending the strike last week.
"The hospital informed Hisham's wife that her husband was infected with COVID-19, and asked her to leave the ward where he was being treated," Imad Abu Hawash, Hisham's brother, said in a statement to Anadolu Agency.
He added that Hisham has been suffering from severe headaches and back pain since Wednesday, warning that his health is deteriorating.
Abu Hawash held Assaf Harofeh Hospital responsible for his brother's condition, as it did not take any special care measures for him, due to his low immunity because of the strike.
On 5 January, Hisham suspended an open hunger strike in Israeli prisons, which lasted 141 days, to protest against his administrative detention, after reaching an agreement to release him on February 26.
The prisoner is a father of five children. He is from the town of Dura, west of al-Khalil in the south of West Bank. He was arrested in October 2020, and transferred to administrative detention (without charge, and it may reach up to six months with possibility of extension).
A few days ago, the Palestinian Society Prisoner's Club (PPSMO) (Independent) announced that 15 prisoners had been infected with COVID-19, including seven female prisoners.
The number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in occupation prisons up to the end of last December reached about 4600, including about 500 administrative prisoners, 34 female prisoners and 160 minors, according to institutions working on prisoners' affairs.