RAMALLAH, December 19, 2015 (WAFA) - Minister of Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Qaraqe, made an urgent appeal to help release a cancer-stricken Palestinian prisoner from Israeli jails, holding the Israeli government fully responsible for his life.

The minister, in a statement, noted that prisoner Bassam al-Sayyeh, 43, is ‘at risk of death’ and is currently languishing in the Israeli Ramla prison hospital. Al-Sayyeh is in the final stages of acute myeloid leukemia, which has spread to his bones. He also suffers from weakened heart muscles and breathing difficulties.

Qaraqi said that the health status of al-Sayyeh has severally deteriorated during his detention in Israeli jails, noting that his suffering has become unbearable.

Al-Sayyeh was detained in early October, 2015. His wife, Mona, was also detained and recently released, whereas his brother, Ahmad, is serving a sentence of 20 years in Israeli jails.

According to human rights groups, medical negligence has been a systematic policy in Israeli jails.

The prisoner rights group Addameer asserts that the Israeli Prison Service maintains a systematic policy of medical negligence toward Palestinian detainees.

There are some 1500 sick prisoners in Israeli jails, of whom 80 prisoners are suffering from serious health problems and do not receive the necessary treatment; they suffer from malignant diseases, paralysis, and disabilities, in addition to cases of mental illness and neurological disorder.

The Palestine Detainees Studies Center said around 60% of the Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails, suffer from chronic diseases, a number of whom died in detention or after being released due to the severity of their cases caused by a deliberate medical negligence policy.

T.R.