After a two-year ban of visits, the parents of the Palestinian sick prisoner, Hussein Masalma, got a permit to visit their son in the "Soroka" hospital inside the occupied territories. The visit lasted for only seven minutes for each of them separately.

Masalma's mother was unable to complete the seven minutes as she was shocked when she saw her son, shouting "This is not my son Hussein!"

The prisoner's father told Safa that he did not expect to see his son in this harsh condition.

He added that the Israeli soldiers tried to force him to leave the room after he insisted on seeing the doctor who is following his son's case; however, he could manage to see the doctor who confirmed the seriousness of his son's health.

Moreover, the father added that his son was a healthy young man at the age of twenty when he was arrested, yet now, he might hear the news of his death at any moment as he suffers from leukemia and in light of the medical negligence policy practiced by the prison administration against Palestinian prisoners.

He stated that his son had served his sentence of 18 years and only nineteen months remained for his release. The Israeli authorities refused to release him despite his health conditions.

The head of the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Association in Bethlehem, Muhammad Zaghloul, told Safa that Masalma's health condition is very dangerous, expressing his fear of his death inside the Israeli prisons.

It is worth noting that Hussein Masalma was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment after being subjected to a harsh interrogation for three months, during which he suffered from leukemia.

The number of sick prisoners in the Israeli prisons is 700 Palestinian prisoners, including 300 suffering from chronic diseases, 12 of whom are suffering from cancer.

Source : Safa