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Palestinian held in Israel dies of cancer shortly after his release

Arab-Israel Relations Materials 5 November 2013 16:43 (UTC +04:00)
A Palestinian who was ill with leukemia has died in an Israeli hospital, three weeks after Israel released him from jail, Palestinian Prisoners' Affairs Minister Issa Qaraqi said on Tuesday
Palestinian held in Israel dies of cancer shortly after his release

A Palestinian who was ill with leukemia has died in an Israeli hospital, three weeks after Israel released him from jail, Palestinian Prisoners' Affairs Minister Issa Qaraqi said on Tuesday, dpa reported.

He said that the hospital had informed the family of Hasan Turabi, 22, of his death. He was from the West Bank village of Surra, near Nablus.

Turabi was arrested in January and remained in detention for almost 10 months, despite Palestinian calls for his release to receive treatment outside prison, said Qaraqi.

Following a serious deterioration in his health, Israel annulled the arrest order against him in mid-October, and moved him to a hospital in northern Israel.

He had been diagnosed with leukemia some 10 years ago.

"The Israeli prison service knew he was dying and decided to release him to avoid being held responsible for his death," said Qaddoura Faris, head of a prisoners' advocacy group based in Ramallah.

Israeli prison service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman said Turabi had been on remand for throwing a firebomb at Israeli soldiers and holding a weapon.

She insisted he had undergone regular medical checks at a prison clinic and a civilian hospital while in custody.

"On October 15 he felt unwell and was immediately evacuated to the civilian hospital. He was released the next day when his situation began to deteriorate," she told dpa.

Qaraqi said there were hundreds of ill prisoners in Israel, who should be released to receive immediate medical attention as an alternative to that provided by prison clinics.

A week ago, Israel released a group of 26 Palestinian militants as part of the revived peace process.

A total of 104 Palestinians are being freed in four batches - 26 had been released in August, and the other two groups are expected to be freed in December and March.

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