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Palestinian prisoners in quarantine after Israel guards test positive for covid

July 29, 2020 at 4:37 pm

Prisoners can be seen through barbed wires from an Israeli prison, 9 November 2018 [JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images]

Two prisoners from Ramon prison have been put in quarantine following the announcement of a state of emergency in the prison, reported Wafa news agency.

Serious concerns have long been expressed that the virus could spread rapidly within a closed prison environment.

According to the Palestinian Chronicle, concern was raised after two Israeli prison guards tested positive for the coronavirus.

Members of the Israeli Prison Service underwent tests after Palestinian prisoner Mohammad Al-Hazeen tested positive for coronavirus a day after he was released from the same prison.

READ: Another Palestinian political prisoner dies in Israeli prison due to deliberate medical negligence

This comes after Israel’s Supreme Court ruled last week that Palestinian prisoners have no right to social distancing protection against coronavirus.

Israel’s top court rejected a petition made by the Adalah -The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights, which called on Israel to implement COVID-19 protective guidelines for inmates at Gilboa prison, a facility in northern Israel housing about 450 Palestinians classified by Israel as “security prisoners”.

Around 222 Palestinian detainees are estimated to have died in Israeli prisons since 1967, five of them died this year.

Over 5,500 Palestinians are currently languishing in prisons located throughout Israel, according to Palestinian official figures.