Paralysed Palestinian prisoner at brink of death in Israel’s jails, rights groups warn

Following the critical deterioration of his health, Palestinian rights groups have warned that prisoner in Israeli jails Walid Daqqa faces the risk of death.

Daqqa was diagnosed with spinal cancer in December 2022 that, along with other severe illnesses, paralysed him.

Recently, he was moved from the clinic of Al Ramlah Prison to Shamir Medical Centre due to the deterioration of his health.

An Israeli court was due to review an appeal of conditional early release for treatment yesterday, but the session was postponed.

“Despite his extremely difficult health condition … the court session to review the conditional early release for the purpose of treatment has been postponed to May 31,” his family said in a statement.

Daqqa was arrested in 1986 and sentenced to 37 years in prison, which he completed in March 2023 but Israeli authorities extended his sentence by two years in 2017 over charges of smuggling mobile phones into prison.

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“Walid Daqqa may lose his life at any moment. His health is in grave danger. He cannot walk and cannot talk properly. He also cannot breathe normally – he is on a respirator,” Ihtiram Ghazawneh from Addameer Palestinian prisoners’ rights group told Al Jazeera.

“He completed his 37-year sentence. He is not someone who is on a security file anymore. He must be able to continue treatment outside of prison, among his family, because even if he is released, it is not clear how long he will live,” Ghazawneh added.