In light of the outbreak of coronavirus among the prisoners in the Israeli jails and the arrival of a number of them to the stage of danger, the families of the infected prisoners are waiting, with severe anxiety and anticipation, for someone to bring them news about their prisoners' relatives, who suffer from the virus.

The Palestinian prisoner club announced that the number of the infected prisoners with the coronavirus has escalated to more than 350, at a time when the prison administration procrastinates in providing real preventive measures to prevent the spread of infection on a larger scale.

The club stressed that the risks to the lives of the prisoners are increasing day by day, calling on the competent authorities, led by the International Red Cross, to play a real role in monitoring the conditions of the infected prisoners, allowing them to communicate with their families who live in a state of great anxiety, and putting pressure on Israel in order to allow an Impartial medical committee to supervise the prisoner's conditions.

The family of the prisoner, Khaled Ghazhan, from the village of Qebia in Ramallah, who was re-arrested after his release in the Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner swap deal, says that he suffers from a difficult health condition as a result of his infection with COVID-19 and suffers from breathing problems and his condition is getting worse.

His son Tariq said, "14 days have passed since my father was infected with coronavirus, as he began to suffer severe pain after the fifth day of his infection, which necessitated his transfer to the hospital and there he was tested, and he was returned to the isolation section of Raymond prison without follow-up or treatment."

He points out that Israel did not pay any attention to the health of his 59-year-old father, even though he suffers from diabetes, which caused a lack of oxygen for him, while Israel refused to transfer him to the hospital and brought him an oxygen tube in isolation.

“We went to the Red Cross to follow up on my father's case, but we were surprised that the cross did not know anything about prisoners inside prisons and what is happening to them in light of the outbreak of the virus," Tariq added.

The prisoner's son says that the lawyers also did not visit his father to examine his health, which indicates the torture of the prisoners by the disease.

As for the wife of the prisoner, Mustafa Shalash, from the village of Shuqba, she told Safa that her husband, 50, was infected with the virus nine days ago and there is no information about him after his isolation.

She added, "We hear of serious cases in prisons as a result of the virus, even of young prisoners who do not have chronic diseases, as a result of medical negligence and the lack of health care, which makes us live in the unknown and we await what might happen to the prisoners."

In this way, Israel is torturing prisoners by denying them treatment, going to hospitals, and preventing them from the breathing apparatus.

Shalash calls on international human rights organizations to enter the prisons and save the lives of the prisoners.

The negligence of the human rights organizations about the prisoners is really sad, at least, they should care about them in this difficult time and they should reach them as soon as possible.

Shalash criticizes the International Committee of the Red Cross's negligence towards the prisoners, saying: "The organization does not exist at all, at a time when it can carry out the mission to the fullest."

Meanwhile, the wife of the prisoner, Bahij Badr, from the town of Beit Liqia, says that her husband is in Raymond prison and he has not been transferred to the hospital despite the deterioration of his health.

Badr pointed out that her husband and his brother, Baher, had contracted the virus and her husband's condition was greatly affected and he was suffering from shortness of breath and extreme fatigue before his health began to improve.

"The psyche of the prisoners' families in this circumstance is difficult because they do not know what is happening to them and there is no institution or agency that can reassure us of their conditions," Badr added.

"Even the Red Cross did not inform us of any information, and when we go to it to find out what is going on, it says that it has no news," she continues.