Palestinian leader Abu Hamid dies in Israeli prison after 'medical neglect'

Palestinian leader Nasser Abu Hamid has died in Israeli detention, after months of medical neglect and denial of cancer treatment. 

The co-founder of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade died a few short hours after Israel finally permitted his family to visit him. At the time, Abu Hamid was already in a coma.

His condition had already deteriorated significantly as Israeli prison services moved him to an Israeli hospital from Ramleh prison. 

The prisoner's health had been deteriorating since August 2021, where he began to suffer from pains in his chest. 

It became clear that Abu Hamid had lung cancer, and a tumour was eventually removed from his chest - after then he was transferred to another prison in Ashkelon.  

After the surgery, the cancer returned. Doctors acknowledged the need for chemotherapy, but Abu Hamid was denied treatment until the disease was already spreading rapidly in his body, according to Palestinian rights groups. 

A vigil in front of the Red Cross in #Gaza following the martyrdom of Palestinian prisoner Nasser Abu Hamid. #QNA pic.twitter.com/qnnAKKzO2y

— Qatar News Agency (@QNAEnglish) December 20, 2022

Even though it was clear that he was at the end of his life, Abu Hamid was refused release to be with his family despite recommendations from Israeli healthcare professionals. 

At least 73 Palestinian prisoners have lost their lives due to medical negligence during detentions in Israeli prisons since 1967, the Palestinian Prisoners Club (PCC) has revealed.

Nasser Abu Hamid had been imprisoned by Israel seven times throughout his prolific life as one of the founders of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Fattah political movement. 

He was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the Second Palestinian Intifada and had remained in Israeli jail since 2002. 

He died in the presence of his family, and Israeli prison guards. 

"Thank God, I and his brothers were able to see him and pay him farewell," Abu Hamid’s mother told Palestine Radio on Tuesday morning, adding that she hoped his body would be released for burial.

In a speech to the UN General Assembly in September, Abbas said Palestinians were telling "the heroic prisoner Nasser Abu Hamid and his companions that dawn is coming, and it is time for their chains to be broken".